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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



VOLUME I, 



Preface to the English Translation 



PART I. 

HERMETIC CHEMISTRY. 

The Ccelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations* concerningr the 
Science and Nature of Alchemy, and what opinion should b« 
formed thereof, Regpilated by the Seven Rules or Fundamental 
Canons according^ to the Seven commonly known Metals ; and 
containing a Preface, with certain Treatises and Appendices .., 

The Preface of Theophrastiu Paracelsus to all Alchemists and redden of thh boak. The 
FLrst Canoo : concerning the nature and properties of Mercury. The Second Canon : con- 
ceraing the nature and properties of Jupiter. The Third Canon : concerning Mar» and hU 
propertie*. The Fourth Canon : concerning Venui and her properties. Tlie Fifth Canon : 
cofvoeming the nature and properties of Saiunu The Sixth Canon : concerning Luna and the 
properties thereof The Seventh Canon : concerning the nature of Sol and its properties- 
Certun treatise and appendices art&ing out of the Seven Canons. God and Nature do 
nothl.jg in votn. Note on Mcrcurius Vi\Ti&, What is to be thought concerning the congela- 
tion of Mercur>'. Concerning the Recipes of Alchemy. How to conjure the crystal so that 
all things may be seen in it. Concerning the heat of Mercury. What materials and 
instruments are required in Alchemy. The method of seeking MineraU. What Alchemy is. 

The Book concerning the Tincture op the Philosophers, written 
against those Sophists born since the Deluge» in the life of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God 

The Preface. Chapter 1. : concerning the ArcoDtua and QuiDtesMQoe. Chapter It. : 
conceruing the definiticvi of the Subject and Matter of the Tincture of the Philosophers. 
Chapter III. : concerning the Procen of the Ancients for the Tinctoj^ of the Philosophers, 
and a more compendious method by Paracelsus, Chapter IV. : concerning the Process for the 
Tincture of the Philosophers, as it is shortened by Paracebus. Chapter V. : concerning the 
conclusion of the Process of the Ancients^ mode by Paracelsus^ Chapter VL : concerning the 
Transtnutation of Metals by the Perfection of Medicine. Chapter VII. : concerning the 
Renovation of Men. 

The Gradations of Metals 

Preface. The First Gradation. The Second Gradatioin. The Third Gradation. The 
Fourth Gradation. The Fifth Gradation. The Sixth Gradation. The Seventh Gradation. 
The Eighth Gradation. The Ninth Gradation. The Tenth Gradation. The Eleventh 
GrodoCion. The Twelfth Gradation. The Thirteenth Gradation. The Fourteenth Gra- 



3« 



vi. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

PAGE. 

The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists 36 

Concerning the Sulphur of Cinnabar. Concerning the Red Lion. Concerning the Green 
Lion. 

Concerning the Transmutations of Metals and of Cements ... 41 

Concerning the First or Royal Cement. Concerning the Second Cement. Concerning 
the Third Cement. The Fourth Cement. The Fifth Cement. The Sixth Cement. Con- 
elusion. 

The Aurora of the Philosophers, by Theophrastus Paracelsus, which 

he otherwise calls his Monarchia ... 48 

Chapter I. : concerning the Origin of the Philosophers' Stone. Chapter II. : wherein is 
declared that the Greeks drew a large part of their learning from the Egyptians ; and how it 
came from them to us. Chapter III. : what was taught in the Schools of the Egyptians. 
Chapter IV. : what Magi the Chaldaeans, Persians, and ^Egyptians were. Chapter V. : 
concerning the chief and supreme Essence of Things. Chapter VI. : conrrming thr chief 
errors as to its discoveij. ai)d JtBOyJcdge. Chapter VII. : concerning the errors of those who 
seek the Stone in Vegelable^t. ChapteTVlII. : concerning those who have sought the Stone 
in Animals. Chapter IX. : concerning those who have sought the Stone in Minerals. 
Chapter X. : concerning those who have sought the Stone, and also Particulars, in Minerals. 
Chapter XI. : concerning the true and perfect special Arcanum of Arsenic for the White 
Tincture. Chapter XII. : General Instruction concerning the Arcanum of Vitriol and the 
Red Tincture to be extracted from it. Chapter XIII. : Special Instructions concerning the 
process of Vitriol for the Red Tincture. Chapter XIV. : concerning the Secrets and Arcana 
of Antimony, for the Red Tincture, with a view to Transmutation. Chapter XV. : con- 
cemini( the Projection to be nuule by the Mystery and Arcaniun of Antimony. Chapter 
XVI. : concerning the Universal Matter of the Philosophers' Stone. Chapter XVII. : con- 
cerning the Preparation of the Matter for the Philosophic Stone. Chapter XVIII. : 
concerning Instruments and the Philosophic Vessel. Chapter XIX. : concerning the Secret 
Fire of the Philosophers. Chapter XX. : concerning the Ferment of the Philosophers, and 
the Weight. 

Concerning the Spirits of the Planets 72 

Prologue. The First Treatise. - Chapter I. : concerning Simple Fire. Chapter II.: 
concerning the multiplicity of Fire from whence spring the varieties of Metals. Chapter 
III. : concerning the Spirit or Tincture of Sol. Chapter IV. : concerning the Spirit or 
Tinctiu-e of Luna. Chapter V. : concerning the Spirit of Venus. Chapter VI. : concern] 
the Spirit of Mars. Chapter VII. : concerning the Spirit of Jupiter. Chapter VI 
ceming the Spirit of Saturn. Chapter IX. : concerning the gross Spirit of Mercur^ The 
Second Treatise.— Concerning the Philosophers' Mercury, and the Medium of Tinctures. 
Chapter I. : from what Tinctures and Leavens are made. Chapter II. : cor.cerning the 
Conjunction of the Man with the Woman. Chapter III. : concerning the ForPi of the Glass 
Instruments. Chapter IV. : concerning the Properties of Fire. Chapter V. : Concerning the 
Signs which appear in the Union of Conjunction. Chapter VI. : concerning tiie Knowledge 
of the Perfect Tincture. Chapter VII. : concerning the AugraenUtion or tie Multiplying 
of Tinctures. The Third Treatise.— Chapter I. : concerning the Buildjja^of the F'urnace 
with the Fire. Chapter II. : concerning the Conjunction of the Man with the Woman. 
Chapter III. : concerning the Copulation of the Man with the Woman. Chapter IV. : con- 
cerning the Philosophic Coition of the Husband with his Wife. Chapter V. : concerning the 
Black Coloiu-. Chapter VI. : concerning the Bud appearing in the Gla5s. Chapter VII. : 
concerning the Red Coloiu-. Chapter VIII. : concerning Increase and Multiplication. 
Conclusion. 

The Economy of Minerals, elsewhere called the Genealogy of Minerals 89 

Preface to the Reader. Chapter I. : concerning the Generations of Minerals. Chapter 
II. : concerning the Ultimate and Primal Matter of Minerals. Chapter III. : concerning the 
Field, the Roots, and the Trees of Minerals. Chapter IV. ; concerning the Fruits and the 
Harvest of Minerals. Chapter V. : concerning the Death of the Elements, especially of 
Water. Chapter VI. : concerning the Death of the Tree of Minerals. Chapter VII. : 
concerning the variation of the Primal Matter of Minerals, in proportion to the different 
Species and Individuals thereof : also concerning the various colours, etc. Chapter VIII. : 
concerning the Natural Dispenser of Minerals, and his Ministers. Chapter IX. : concerning 




Table of Contents. 



Vll. 



PAGEt 

the Virtues and Properties of Salt* in Alchemy «kJ in Medicine. Chapter X. : concerning 
Mumia. Chapter XL : conrertiing Dry Salt. Chapter XII. : concerning Salt Nitre. 
Chapter XIII. : concerning the III Effects of Nutrimental Salt. Chapter XIV. : concerning 
Vitriol. Chapter,XV. : concerning the Specie^t of Vitriol and the Tests of it. Chapter XVI.: 
concerning the Virtues of Vitriol, crude or calcined, in Medicine. Chapter XVI L: concerning 
the Threefold Sulphur of Minerals. Chapter XVI 11. : concerning Anenic used for Alchemy. 
Chapter XIX. i concerning Quicksilver. Chapter XX. : concerning Cachimie axid Imperfect 
Bodies. ConclusioHv 

The Composition of Metals ... ... 114 

Concerning the Naturb op Things. 

Book the First : concerning" the Generation of Natural Things 120 

Book the Second: concerning the Growth of Natural Things... 128 

Book the Third: concerning the Preservation of Natural Things 130 

Book the Fourth: concerning the Life of Natural Things ., 135 

Book the Fifth: concerning the Death of Natural Things ,.. 138 

Book the Sixth : concerning the Resuscitation of Natural Things 146 

Book the Seventh ; concerning the Transmutation of Natural 

Objects ... ... 151 

Book the Eighth : concerning the Separation of Natural Things 160 

Conceraini; the Separation of Metals from their Minerali. Concerning the Separitlion of 
Mioerals. Coocemins the Sepantion of Veg«tih1es. Concerning the Separatioa of AnimaU. 

Book the Ninth : concerning the Signature of Natural Things ... 171 

CoQCeming Monstrous Signs in Men« Concerning the A^ttral Sign» in Che Physiognomy 
of Man. Concerning the AslnU Signs of Chiromancy. Concerning Mineral Signs. Coo* 
ceming certain particular Signs of Natural and Supernatural Things 

The Faracelsic Method of Extracting Mercury from all the 

Metals ,., ,,. .., 195 

Thb Sulphur of the Metals ... ,,. ... ... 197 

The Crocus of the Metals, or the Tincture 199 

The Philosophy of Theophrastus concerning thb Gekeratioks of 
the Elements. 

Book the First; concerning the Element of Air,., , ... 201 

Book the Second: concerning the Element of Fire ... 210 

Treatise the Fir^t : concerning the Separation of Air and Fire. Treatise the Second ; 
concerning the Sun, Light, Ddrknesa, an4 Night. Coocenmig Wtndsv Concerning ibe 
Temperate Stars. Concerning Nebula. Conoerning Mcta^ Minerals, and Stones from the 
Upper Regions. Cooc«ming Metals CoooerninK Stones from Ahove Couceming Cryslala 
and Beryls. 

Book the Third: concerning the Element of Earth 

Book the Fourth : concerning the Element of Water, with its 
Fruits 



226 



231 



J< 



viii. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

PAGE. 

APPENDICES. 
Appendix I. : a Book about Minerals 237 

Concerning Silver. Concerning Jove. Concerning Sntum. Concerning Iron and Steel. 
Concerning Venus. Note. - Of Mixed Metals. Concerning Spurious Meuls. Concerning 
Zinc. Concerning Cobalt. Concerning Granates. Note concerning Gems. Concerning 
Quicksilver. Note concerning Cachimis, that is, the Three Imperfect Bodies. General 
Recapitulation concerning Generation. Of the Generation of Marcasites. Autograph 
Schedule by Paracelsus. 

Appendix II. : concerning Salt and Substances comprehended under 

Salt 257 

Correction and Addition on the Subject of a second time correcting and reducing Dry 
Salt. 

Appendix III. : concerning Sulphur 265 

Concerning the Kinds of Sulphur. Concerning Embryonated Sulphur. Concerning 
Mineral Sulphur. Concerning Metallic Sulphur, that is, Sulphurs prepared from the entire 
Metals. Concerning the Alchemical Virtues of Sulphur, and first concerning Embryonated 
Sulphur. Concerning Mineral Sulphur. Concerning the Use of Sulphur of the Metals in 
Alchemy. 

Appendix IV. : the Mercuries of the Metals ... 278 

A Little Book concerning the Mercuries of the Metals, by the Great Theophrastus 
Paracelsus, most excellent Philosopher and Doctor of both Faculties. Mercury of the 
Sun. Mercury of the Moon. Mercury out of Venus. Mercury out of Mars. Mercury of 
Jupiter. Mercury of Saturn. 

Appendix V. : De Transmutationibus Metallorum 283 

Concembg the Visible and Local Instruments : and first of all concerning the Spagyric 
Uterus. The Phcenix of the Philosophers. A Very Brief Process for attaining the Stone. 

Appendix VI. : the Vatican Manuscript of Paracelsus. A Short 

Catechism of Alchemy 288 

Appendix VII. : the Manual of Paracelsus 306 

The Work on Mercury for Luna and Sol. The Work of Sulphur. The Fixation of 
Spirits. A Cement of Part with Part. The Solution of Gold by Marcasites. A Great 
Secret. Method of calcining Mercury. Digestion of the Moon. For the White and Red. 
For Multiplication. Red Oil which fixes Luna and Sol. The Gradation of Luna. The 
Oil of the Philosophers. Corporal Mercury. Mercury of all the Metals. The Foundation 
of the Philosophers. MerciuTr of Saturn. Fixed Augment. Merctuy of Jupiter. Mercury 
of the Moon. To convert Metals into Mercury. Augment in Luna. Mercury of Sol or 
Luna. Oil of Arcanum. Water of Mercury. Elixir at the White. Concerning Luna and 
Venus. Notable Elixir. Rubification. Sal Ammoniac. Sal Borax. Cinabrium. Facti- 
tious Corals. Pearls from Chalk. Ruby. Aqua Ardens. Calcination of Sol and Luna. 
Sublimation and Fixation of Sulphur. Oil of Vitriol. Sal Borax of the Philosophers. 
Fixation of Arsenic. Coagulation of Mercury. Glorious Oil of Sol. Lac Virginis. The 
Process of Sulphiu-. Operation for Sol. To make Precious Stones. Water which makes 
Luna into Sol. Fixation of Sulphur. How every Stone can be transmuted into a clear one. 
The Adepts' Fire. Sol produced with Pars cum Parte. Concerning Cements. Method of 
making Luna. Water of Luna. True Albatio. Rubification of Merctiry. Oil of Mercury 
and the Sun. Quintessence of Luna, etc. Fixation of Orpiment. Spirits of Water. 
Augmentation for Sol. Fixed Luna. Secret Philosophical Water. The Hermetic Bird. 
Attinkar of Venus. Cement Regal. Philosophic Water. 



PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 



THERE are many respects in which Paracelsus at the present day seems 
to be little more than a name. Even among professed mystics the 
knowledge concerning him, very meagre and very indefinite, is know- 
ledge that has been obtained at second hand, in most cases from Rliphas 
Levi, who in his Dogme el Riiuel de la Haute Magie^ and again in his Histoire 
de la Magie^ has delivered an intuitive judgment upon the German ** Monarch 
of Arcana,** expressed epigramaticafly* after the best manner of a Frenchman,* 
But, whencesoever derived, the knowledge is thin and phaxitasmal. Paracelsus 
is indeed cited as an authority in occult science, as a great alchemist, a great 
magician, a great doctor ; he is somehow supposed to be standing evidence 
of the *' wisdom of a spoliated past/* and to offer a peculiar instance of 
malignity on the part of the enemies of Hermetic philosophy, because such 
persons have presumed to pronounce him an impostor. Thus there is a very 
strong opinion concerning him, which occultists and mystics of all schools have 
derived from a species of mystical tradition, and this represents one side of 
modern thought concerning him. It is not altogether a satisfactory side, 
because it is not obtained at first hand. In this respect, however, it may 
compare, without suffering by comparison, with the alternative opinion which 



* The cure of Paracelsus were iiLtr«cuJou<tr and be deserved that there shotild be added to his tiame of Pliilippus 
Theophra&tus Bombast that ofAureoIus Paracebiui, wiih the addition of the epithet of divine.— -/'cr/mr df la Ifantt 
Mmgitt c. X. PoracektL^t that reformer in magic, who has surpaivid all other initiate!^ by his una&si^itcd practical 
iuccck&.-'/^iVm c. 5. Paracdsua, the most subLime of the Cbristuui msig\.—/Hd.^ c t6* Paraceltus was a man of 
inspiration and of miracles, but be exhausted ki« life mth bis devouring activtty, or» rather, he rapidly outwore arut 
destroyed its vestment : for men like ParaceUus can both use and abuse fearlessly \ they well know tliat they caJI tio 
more die than grow old here ht\ow*~Kituti tie As Hnntt Ma£ie^ c a. Paracelsus was naturally aggressive and 
combative ; his faniiliar, he said^ was concealed in the pommel of his great sword, which he never put ajside. His life 
was incessant warfare » be traveJled, be disputed^ he wroiei he taught. He was more attentive to physical results than 
to moral conquests ; so he was the ^r^t of practical magicians and the Last of wise adepts. His philosophy was wholly 
sagadiy I and be himself called it PhUosephm Sagmx. He has divined more than anyone without ever completely 
anderttanding anything. There is nothing to equal his intuitions unless it be the temerity of his commentaries. He 
was a man of bold experiences ; be was drunk of his opinions and bis talk ; he even got drunk otherwise, if we are to 
believe bis biographers. The writings which he has left behind him are precious for science, but they must be read 
with caution ; he may be called the divine Paracelsus, if the term be understood in the sense of a diviner ; he u aa 
Oracle, but not invariably a true master. He is great as a physician above all, for he had discovered the Unt venal 
Medicine ; v^t be could not preserve his own life, and be died while still young, worn out by bis toil and excesies* 
leaving a name of fantastic and doubtful gIor>', based out diicoi-eries by which his conteroporariei did not prolii. H« 
died without having uttered his last menage, and he is one of those mysterious per&onages of whom one may affirm, as 
of Enoch and S. John : be is iMt dead, and he will revisit the earth before the last dsiy\—//uUirt dt At Magitt 
Uv. V.« c S' His success was prodigious, and never hsts any physician apf^aiched Paracekus in the multitude of hL< 
marvellous cures.— />c)p«r de ia Hmnte Mm^^ c. i<. 

Z A 



X. The Hennetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

obtains among non-mystics, namely, that Paracelsus was a great charlatan, 
though at the same time it is true that he was a great physician, at least for 
the period In which he lived. This judgment as little, perhaps less than the 
other, is derived from any solid knowledge concerning the man or his 
writings.* At the same time it is noticeable that even hearsay condemnations 
admit that Paracelsus performed notable cures. How it comes about that the 
application of what would be termed a distracted theory both in medicine and 
physics enabled its inventor to astound his age by what seemed miracles of 
the healing art would be a crux for such criticism if the criticism knew anything 
about it. It is not a crux for the mystics, because by these it would be replied 
that Paracelsus was a veritable adept, that his Hermetic teachings require to 
be interpreted, and that the key to their meaning would lay open for those 
who possess it an abundant treasure of sapience to which the literal 
significance is only a btsarre veil. Between these views it is unnecessary to 
make choice here. It is proposed to enable those who are interested in 
either to judge this matter for themselves by placing completely before them, 
for the first time, and in an English dress, the Hermetic writings of Para- 
celsus. It is proposed, also, by way of a brief introduction, to notify a few 
facts In connection with the (ife of the author, which may be useful at the 
beginning of an inquiry. 

There are, however, many debateable points in connection with the life of 
Paracelsus to which a reference in this place scarcely requires to be made. 
What proportion of his long designation belonged to him by birth or baptism, 
to what countries he actually extended his travels during incessant wanderings 
which terminated only with his life, under what circumstances he died and 
what was the precise manner of his death, all these are points about which 
there is considerable uncertainty, and they are at this day not likely to be set- 
tled. Theophrastus and Bombast seem to have been assumed names, to one of 
which an unfortunate, and in some respects an undeserved, significance has 
been since attracted. The surname of Paracelsus was conferred by his father 
in alchemy, and it signified that he was greater than Celsus, the physician of 
ancient fame. To the style of Hohenheim It is believed that he had only 
a doubtful right. His alternative designation of Eremite suggests the 
monastic state, but the reference is simply to his birthplace, Maria Einsiedeln, 
or Notre Dame des Eremites, a short distance from Zurich. He appears to 
have been christened Phillppus Aureolus, and in his writings he indlflferently 



* M. Louis Figoier, the French sdestLst* who otherwise might perhaps be regarded as exhibiiing more than Gallic 
accuracy, may be cited in ihi* connection. Rererring to the fact that Paracelsus has Laid some stress upon an optnioo 
not uncommon among ald&etnistSt tuunely* that astrology and magic are ooUaterally a help to the seeker after the Great 
Work, be goes on to itfllnii that the writing;} of ParaceUus are fiUed with foolish invocations to the inmible worldt 
while, as a fact, there is not a single treatise comprised in the great Geneva foliot nor is there any other extant work 
attributed to Paracelsus, and known to the present editor, which contains any invocations at alL M. Louis FiEmo- 
subsequently tuies, apparently on the sole authority of bis intuition as a Frenchman and a man of parts, that tha 
fullgtnous Swiss physician enjoys otily a contested authority among alchemists, which if only pani^ly true ; and addt 
that he was a theoretical writer who did not apply himself manualty to the accomplishment of the Mmgmtm £>/««, 
whkbT io for jia tl is pocslble to jttdgCi as not true at alt 



Preface to tlu English Translation. 



XL 



describes himself as a Helvetian and a German. He was born in the year 
1493, following the tradition which is most generally accepted, but other 
dates have been indicated, the earliest being 1490. According to one account 
he was descended from the ancient and honourable family of Bombast, which 
had abode during many generations at the castle of Hohenheim, near 
Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, but this is most probably romancing. His father 
was a physician of repute, who is said to have been in possession of a large 
collection of curious books» and has also been described as a grand master of 
the Teutonic order, but the precise meaning attaching to this high-sounding 
dignity is uncertain and the authority is suspicious. His mother is variously 
identified as the matron of a hospital and ** superintendent of the university 
of Einsiedeln. " Paracelsus is reputed to have been their only child, born one 
year after marriage, but it has also been hinted that his parents were not 
married, and that the great master of Hermetic medicine was a natural son, 
He Is said also to have been emasculated in his childhood, but there is 
reason to suppose that this was merely a hypothetical explanation to account 
for his beardless and somewhat feminine appearance, and for that hatred of 
women which seems to have been one oi his social characteristics, and can be 
traced indirectly, but with sufficient distinctness, in his writings.* About 1502 
the family removed to Carinthia, and there the father continued to practise 
medicine till his death in 1534. From him Paracelsus is supposed to have 
received the first rudiments of education, and he entered the university of 
Basle at the age of sixteen, when he betook himself to the study of alchemy, 
surgery, and medicine. To the first of these sciences he had previously had 
some introduction through the works of Isaac the Hollander, which are said 
to have inflamed him with the ambition of curing diseases by medicine 
superior to the fnateria at that time in use. It was from the same source that 
he derived the cardinal principle which is enunciated everywhere in his 
writings, namely, that salt, sulphur, and mercury are the three elementary 
constituents of all substances. This doctrine, however, by no means origin- 
ated with the first alchemist of Holland, and Isaac himself was a follower of 
Geber, Morien, and Arnold. t The actual initiation of Paracelsus into the 
mysteries of alchemy is, however, supposed to have been attained under the 



* So free wafl Paracebus oTaU wnourous wealuiesses, that he made even hit «ex teem doubtful.— Z^^^pftv d* Im 

t Contemporatry with Bo&Uiiu Valentinus were I&^inc ihe HolLnnder nnd bb sou, m'ho are supposed to have worked 
with success. They were the first akbenusts ofHoUand, and tbeir operations were bifEhty esteemed fay Paracelsus, 
Boylc, and RuockeL In praciicaJ chemistry they followed the traditioiu of GcbcTt and cheiir akliemiea] experimetits 
are the mo^t plain and i^plidt to the whole raxige of Hennetic literature. They woiiccd prindpalJy to metaUi 
describing minutely the particulars of ever)' proce$«^ Their lives are almoi^t unknown^ . . . They are placed to the 
fiA^eenth century by conjecture, from the fact that they do not cite any philofiophers subi<c}ucnt to that period. They 
«peak of Geber, Da^tin, Morien. and Arnold, but not of more modem authorities, while, on the other hand» their 
references to aquaforlb ant! aqua rcgia, which were discovered in the fourteenth century, prevent \a from ai&igmns 
their labt>ur« to an anterior epoch. The two Isioacs were particularly skilful In the manufacture of enameU and 
amfidal gem stont%. They taught that the Gnind MagUterium could convert a million tirue^ its own weight intogoJdf 
and declared that any perw^n taking weekly a smalt portion of the philosfiphical ttone wilt be t\'€t preserved \a perfeet 
health, and lua life will be prolonged to the very tasl boor vrhkh God has aisigticd to him.— Zfrcf ^ Akhtmyttkmt 



xii. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus. 

tuition of the Abbot Trithemius,'^ who is regarded as an adept of a high order, 
and had been previously the instructor of the more celebrated, though less 
illustrious^ Henry Cornelius Agrippa*t From this mysterious ecclesiastic, 
who at the present day, in so far as he is remembered at all, is best known by 
his treatises on cryptic writing, he is supposed to have acquired **the 
Kabbalah of the spiritual^ astral, and material worlds." About 1516 he is 
still found at Basle pursuing his researches in mineralogy, medicine, surgery, 
and chemistry, under the guidance of Sigismund Fugger, a wealthy physician 
of that city. Subsequently, having got into some trouble with the authori- 
ties, he fled, and commenced his nomadic life, which an apparently inaccurate 
tradition represents to have begun at the age of twenty years. Though his 
father was still alive he appears to have been without any means of subsis- 
tence, and supported himself, like many distressed students of that period, by 
psalm-singing, astrological predictions, chiromantic soothsaying, and, it is 
even said, by necromantic practices. He wandered through Germany, 
Hungary, Italy, France, the Netherlands^ Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. 
In the last mentioned countr>% if it be true that he ever reached it, he is 
reported to have been made prisoner by the Tartars, to have been brought 
before **the Great Cham/' to have become a favourite at the court of that 
potentate, and to have accompanied his son on an embassy from China to 
Constantinople. In spite of the tuition of Trithemius, he had apparently 
something to learn, and that was nothing less than ** the supreme secret of 
alchemistry," the '* universal dissolvent," the Azoth, alcahest, or sophic fire. 
This was imparted to him by a generous Arabian, about whom no other 
particulars are forthcoming. It is easy to see that the greater part of this 
nomadic legend is purely fabulous, and so also, in all probability, is his 
subsequent journey to India and Egypt. It is not an unusual device to 
account for obscure periods in the lives of Hermetic philosophers by extensive 
eastern travellings. However this may be, Paracelsus ultimately returned to 
Europe, and passed along the Danube into Italy, where he appears as an 
army surgeon, and where also his wonderful cures began. He is said to have 
re-entered Germany in 1526, at the age of thirty-two, and if this be accepted 
the date 1516, when he is supposed to have been at work with Sigismund 
Fugger, will be found approximately correct. It is to the period immediately 
succeeding his return that most of his biographers assign his induction into a 
professorship of physics, medicine, and surgery, at the university he entered 



* Tntlbetiuiu was a monk of the Benedictmc order, who began life us a mendicant child leuing forth ixk search of 
knowledge. He was received into a convent at Tr^'e». where he made astounding pHrogreu tn hb studtes. Having 
exhausted the possibilities of his teacben, he betook himself to Lou vain, thence to Heidelbergt and ^ubsequemly bo 
Mayence. He became familiar with oriental languages, pagan and Chrbtian phDosopby, astronomy, and alchemy. 
He was a theologian, a poet an astronomer, and a necfo«nanccr. He took monai^tic vows im 148a, and in the year 
following he became tbc abbot of a convent at Spanheijn^ which he transformed speedily into a saiictuar>' of art and the 
sciences He subnequently was made superior of an abbey at Wurtbcmrg, and there it would appear be remained dlJ his 
death in the ytM 1516^ His works are chiefly historical, but, as above indicated, there are some upon secret writing 
which are exceedingly curtotis, and one, Ckr<ffUfU^A Mystica, is of a magical character. 

t Agrippa^ who seem* to h«ve divided with Parac«l*tt* the reputation of the TrisjnegKt\i« of hi« time, w.n* Horn in 
S4S& and died in i535« 



Preface io the English Translation, 



XllL 



as a youth. This was a position of some importancei and It was offered him 
at the instance of Erasmus and Ecolampidus* ** There, in his lectures, he pro- 
fessed internal medicine, denounced the antiquated systems of Galen and other 
authorities, and began his instruction by burning the works of these masters 
in a brass pan with sulphur and nitre. He created innumerable enemies by 
his arrogance and his innovations, but the value of his mineral medicines was 
proved by the cures which he performed*"^ These cures only increased the 
hatred of his persecutors, and Paracelsus, with characteristic defiance, invited 
the faculty to a lecture, in which he promised to teach the greatest secret of 
medicine. He began by uncovering a dish which contained excrement. The 
doctors, indignant at the insult, departed precipitately, Paracelsus shouting 
after them : * If 3^ou will not hear the mysteries of putrefactive fermenlation, 
you are unworthy of the name of physicians/ " It will be easily understood 
that the Hermetic doctor did not long retain his professorship at Basle. He 
came into conflict with the municipal authorities, and a second time he was 
forced to flee the place. He betook himself once more to a wandering mode 
of life. In 1528 he proceeded to Colmar ; in 1530 he is found at Nuremburg, 
in embroilment, as usual, with the medical faculty, by whom he was de- 
nounced as an impostor, but the tables were turned on his opponents after his 
successful treatment of several aggravated cases of elephantiasis. For the 
ten years succeeding this date there are no certain records of his movements ; 
he commonly lodged at inns and other public places, still performing cures 
which were astonishing for the period, andi according to the accusations of 
his enemies, also drinking to excess*! The testimony of Oporinus on this 
point is ver)' clear, though it has been indignantly repudiated by some of his 
later defenders. In 1541 Paracelsus was invited by Archbishop Ernst to settle 
at Salzburg^ and there, according to one account, he died on September 24 
of the same year, but the manner of his death, like that of his birth, has been 
the subject of contradictor)^ recitals,^ By an alternative statement it occurred 
on a bench at the kitchen fire in a Strasburg hostelry. One writer supposes 
the event to have been accelerated by a scuffle with assassins in the pay of 
the orthodox medical faculty. 

There can be no doubt that Paracelsus obtained a wide, though not 
altogether a happy, reputation during the brief period of his turbulent life, 
and there is also no doubt that this was immeasurably increased after death. 



* Paj^celtiK. who was lh« first who made kiKtim rinc^ has obuuned an immenise and de^rvcd reputation by 
introducing into medicine the um ofcbetnicaJ compounds furnished by melals. To the old tbci:?peutic> of the Galcnisti, 
abounding tn complicated and oPten Inoperative preparatian»t he sub^tituieil the simple medicaincDU furiiuhed by 
chemtstn't ftn<} ^'^''^^ ^'^ ^^t t<> op^ti the audacious path to the application of this science to human physiology and 
pAthology.— Louti Figuier, VAlckimit it Us Akkimistei^ trouii^me i^/ittan, pp. 99, too, 

t Marvellous Paracehus, aW^y^ drunk and atwaj-s luddj like the heroes of Rabelais.— i7«^7Mr tit ia Hautt Magie* 
lotroduction. 

t He proceeded to Maehren, Kaemthcn, ICrain, and Hungary, and finally landed in Salxburg, to which place be 
was invited by the Prince P.-datine. Duke Ernst of Bavamf who was a (prcat lover of the secret arts. In that place 
Paracelsus obtained at last the fruits of his long labours and of a widespread fame. But he was not destined to enjoy 
a long time the re&t he «o richly deserv«d. . . . He died, afier a short sickness (at the age of forty •eight years), in 
a fmall room of the White Hor*e Inn, near the quoyt and hU body wa* buried in the p^veyanl of St. SeViftstian.— 
|Janin."iinii's Pittitcfhitji. 



xiv. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

It is in no sense inexact to affirm that he founded a new school both in 
medicine and in alchemy. The commentaries on his medical system became 
a literature which, in extent, at least, is formidable ; out of the mystic physics 
of his alchemical teachings the Rosicrucian doctrines developed in the first 
• part of the following centurj-. The works of Benedictus Figulus arc evidence 

that he was idolized by his disciples. He was termed the noble and beloved 
monarch, the German Hermes, the Philosopher Trismegistus, our dear 
preceptor and King of Arts, Theophrastus of blessed memory and immortal 
fame. The collection of his genuine writings was made with devout care, 
and as a consequence of his celebrity many fictitious treatises were in due 
course ascribed to him.* Students attracted by his doctrines travelled far in 
search of like-minded persons to compare obser\'ations thereon, and to sift 
the mystery of his instruction. In the course of these inquiries it seems to 
have become evident, from the experience of his followers, that his prescrip- 
tions in many cases were not to be literally understood, even when they were 
apparently the ordinary formulas and concerned with the known materia of 
medicine. It will scarcely be necessar}* to add that in things alchemical the 
letter of his teachings was found still more in need of interpretation. The 
very curious influence exercised by Paracelsus for something like two hundred 
years over certain sections of restless experiment and speculation is still 
unwritten, and it would be interesting to trace here, were it possible within 
the limits of a preface. A task so ambitious is, however, outside those 
limits, and will perhaps be more wisely surrendered to other hands, for it is, 
in the main, part of the history of medicine, and demands an expert in the 
medical literature and medical knowledge of the past The translations 
which follow are concerned only with the Hermetic writings of Paracelsus, to 
the exclusion of many formidable treatises on surgical science, and on the 
causes and cure of disease. They comprise what Paracelsus would himself 
have comprised in a collection of his alchemical writings, and this in itself is 
much more than is ordinarily understood to be within the significance of the 
term. With Paracelsus the province of alchemy was not limited to the 
transmutation of metals. It was, broadly speaking, the development of 
hidden possibilities or virtues in any substance, whether by God, or man, or 

* More especially, dear friends, have we to complain of the devilish cunning w-ay in which the wtyks of 
Theophrastus have hitherto hecn supprea^cd. only a few of which (and those to be reckoned the ^-ery worst) having 
appeared in print. For although they have been collected together from all countries b which Tbeophnstus has lived 
and travelled— the books he has written in Aurooomy. PhiSoMpfay. Chemistry, Cabala, and Theology, numbering some 
thousand volumes— yet the same has only been done from avarice to get riches^ For, haWng been trafficked in and 
sold for great sums they have become kcattered amv«ig t^K ccmris of princes and nobles, while Christendom at large, 
for whose use and benefit Theophrastus wrvte. Lak ov part iu them. Particularly his theological works (because they 
annihilate the god!e». and do not »uit chilii/en of tbi» »«jfld— Urlly-vtrrers, deceived by the de\-il) have hitherto been 
totally suppressed. . . . But. at the La>t D«y. 1. t<;gethcr «ith al! true Sons of the Doctrine, shall demand an 
account of them for having . . . shut Trutb away v.i WjLe». wulU. and vaults and behind locks and b<^ts. Now, 
these precious and revered writings were ordered by 0<^ in our latter time%. through Theophrastus, for the use and 
weal of the whole of Christendom. A» rvgji/<!» vai dear, highly fa wu red Monarch and Preceptor, . . . we, for 
our port, will not supprcM his Life, bi> «e!]-u.«ritod pi;«i»c. . . . gi>en him by God, the Angels, and the whole 
Firmament, but will heartily defend bis h'.^^iour vA. uatLifij; t^ tl«« ^^wy ^A of our life.— Benedictus Figulus. A Gulden 
and BUsud Casktt 0/ yatmrg i MmrtnU 



Preface io the English Translation. 



XV, 



Nature. Thus it Included the philosophy of creation, and dealt with the 
first matter as developed into the universe by Divine Power. It included 
also the natural evolution which takes place round us, whether in the 
formation of metals within the earth, or the formation of animals in the 
matrix. Finally, it included the development by man's skill and art of 
whatsoever was capable of improvement in the products of Nature* Thus 
the Hermetic and Alchemical writings of Paracelsus have a wider scope than 
might at first be inferred from the title. The purpose of this translation is 
altogether of an unpretentious kind. It aims at providing, and that for the 
first time, a complete and faithful text of all that Paracelsus is known or 
supposed to have written on the subject of alchemy and Hermetic medicine. 
It does not attempt Io distinguish between the works which have been falsely 
attributed to him \ concerning this question there are no satisfactory canons 
of criticism, for those which have been indicated by the old author of the 
OnomasHkon are of an arbitrary and unpractical kind. A careful reader will 
probably regard with suspicion the ** Aurora of the Philosophers," at least in 
its present state, and he will possibly reject altogether the treatise ** Con- 
cerning the Spirits of the Planets." There is nothing else in these volumes, 
except the uncertain ** Manual," which from internal evidence is unlikely to 
have been the work of Paracelsus, and it is unnecessary to enter into the 
question which has been raised by some of his biographers as to his employ- 
ment of scribes under him, who reduced his dictations to writing and have 
possibly maJtreated their master, The text which has been adopted for 
translation is the Geneva folio, In four volumes, 1658, in Latin. The bizarre 
mixture of Latin and old German in which Paracelsus originally wrote 
presents many difficulties with which it is unnecessary to grapple, as the 
Latin collected edition appears to represent in a very satisfactory manner 
both the letter and the spirit of the originals. 

It seems also desirable to state that a comparison of the medical and 
chemical knowledge possessed by Paracelsus with the chemistry and medicine 
of to-day is outside the purpose of this edition, because it is outside possibility 
within the limits of two volumes. There is no doubt that it would be an 
interesting as well as an important task to establish the exact position of 
Paracelsus, not only as regards modern knowledge, but as regards the science 
which preceded hini^ and it is hoped that such a work will be ultimately 
performed. Should this translation be regarded as final by students, or at 
least as a satisfactory foundation for a full and complete comprehension of the 
sage of Hohenheim, and should the encouragement which is indispensable to 
an undertaking so long and costly be adequately given, it is proposed, after 
a reasonable interval, that these two volumes of uncriticised text should be 
followed by one other which will contain all the materials requisite for 
understanding Paracelsus, and will further trace, methodically and historically, 
the development of alchemical symbolism, with the growth of chemical 
knowledge from the Byzantine period to the dawn of the Reformation, It is 



xvi. The Hernutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

anticipated that this inquiry will fix for the first time the true objects of 
Hermetic physics, and the place which must be assigned to Paracelsus in 
connection therewith. The less ambitious but indispensable preliminary of 
this inquiry has been alone attempted here, and the simple provision of a text, 
as intelligible as the circumstances will allow, has been truly no light 
undertaking, nor should it be regarded as the exclusive work of one hand. 
The editor has accomplished his task with the collaboration of other 
specialists, and is responsible only for certain portions of the actual trans- 
lation, and for its general revision and collation. The work, as it stands, 
consists of (a) the large body of literature, entire and unabridged, attributed 
to Paracelsus, and treating directly of alchemy, and the transcendental 
doctrines and physics of the Magnum Opus ; (V) The whole Paracelsian 
literature of the Great Elixir and the Universal Medicine ; (c) So much of 
the Hermetic philosophy and cosmogony of Paracelsus as has been judged 
necessary to illustrate his alchemical teachings ; [d) One important treatise 
illustrating the application by Paracelsus of metallic and mineral substances 
to the treatment of diseases ; (e) An exhaustive collection of alchemical 
references scattered through the chirurgical works of Paracelsus. Thus, the 
present edition is practically inclusive of everything except the exoteric 
medicine of Paracelsus, which, it is thought, is of inferior importance to the 
modern student. 



PART I. 



Hermetic Chemistry. 



THE CCELUM PHILOSOPHORI 

OR BOOK OF VEXATIONS ; 

By PHILIPPUS THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS. 



The Science and Nature of Alchemy, and what Opinion should bb 

formed thereof. 

Regulated by the Seven Rules or Fundamefital Canons according 

to the seven commmily known Metals; and cantatning a 

Pre/ace with certain Treatises and Appendices, 



THE PREFACE 

OF Theophrastus Paracelsus to all Alchemists and Readers 

OF THIS Book. 

YOU who are skilled in Alchemy, and as many others as promise your- 
selves great riches or chiefly desire to make gold and silver, which 
Alchemy in difTerent ways promises and teaches ; equally, too, you 
who willingly undergo toil and vexations, and wish not to be freed from them, 
until you have attained your rewards, and the fulfilment of the promises made 
to you ; experience teaches this every day, that out of thousands of you not 
even one accomplishes his desire. Is this a failure of Nature or of Art ? I 
say, no ; but it is rather the fault of fate, or of the unskilfulness of the 
operator. 

Since, therefore, the characters of the signs, of the stars and planets of 
heaven, together with the other names, inverted words, receipts, materials, 
and instruments are thoroughly well known to such as are acquainted with 
this art, it would be altogether superfluous to recur to these same subjects in 
the present book, although the use of such signs, names, and characters at 
the proper time is by no means without advantage. 

But herein will be noticed another way of treating .'Vlchemy different from 
the previous method, and deduced by Seven Canons from the sevenfold series 
of the metals. This, indeed, will not give scope for a pompous parade of 
words, but, nevertheless, in the consideration of those Canons ever}lhing 
which should be separated from Alchemy will be treated at sufficient length, 
and, moreover, many secrets of other things are herein contained. Hence, too» 
result certain marvellous speculations and new^ operations which frequently 

}i2 



4 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

differ from the writings and opinions of ancient operators and natural 
philosophers, but have been discovered and confirmed by full proof and 
experimentation. 

Moreover, in this Art nothing is more true than this, though it be little 
known and gains small confidence. All the fault and cause of difficulty in 
Alchemy, whereby very many persons are reduced to poverty, and others 
labour in vain, is wholly and solely lack of skill in the operator, and the defect 
or excess of materials, whether in quantity or quality, whence it ensues that, 
in the course of operation, things are wasted or reduced to nothing. If the 
true process shall have been found, the substance itself while transmuting 
approaches daily more and more towards perfection. The straight road is 
easy, but it is found by very few. 

Sometimes it may happen that a speculative artist may, by his own 
eccentricity, think out for himself some new method in Alchemy, be the con- 
sequence anything or nothing. He need do nought in order to reduce some- 
thing into nothing, and again bring back something out of nothing. Yet this 
proverb of the incredulous is not wholly false. Destruction perfects that 
which is good ; for the good cannot appear on account of that which conceals 
it. The good is least good whilst it is thus concealed. The concealment 
must be removed that so the good may be able freely to appear in its own 
brightness. For example, the mountain, the sand, the earth, or the stone in 
which a metal has grown is such a concealment. Each one of the visible 
metals is a concealment of the other six metals. 

By the element of fire all that is imperfect is destroyed and taken away, 
as, for instance, the five metals. Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Saturn.* 
On the other hand, the perfect metals, Sol and Luna, are not consumed in that 
same fire. They remain in the fire : and at the same time, out of the other 
imperfect ones which are destroyed, they assume their own body and become 
visible to the eyes. How, and by what method, this comes about can be 
gathered from the Seven Canons. Hence it may be learnt what are the nature 
and property of each metal, what it effects with the other metals, and what 
are its powers in commixture with them. 

But this should be noted in the very first place : that these Seven Canons 
cannot be perfectly understood by every cursory reader at a first glance or a 
single reading. An inferior intelligence does not easily perceive occult and 
abstruse subjects. Each one of these Canons demands no slight discussion. 
Many persons, puffed up with pride, fancy they can easily comprehend all 
which this book comprises. Thus they set down its contents as useless and 
futile, thinking they have something far better of their own, and that therefore 
they can afford to despise what is here contained. 

* The three prime substances are proved only by fire, which manifests them pure, naked, clean, and simple. In the 
absence of all ordeal by fire, there is no proving of a substance possible. For fire tests everything, and when the impure 
matter b separated the three pure substances are displayed.— Z>r Origine Motborum ex Tnbus Primis SitbsfaHtiis' 
Paramtfum^ Lib. I., c. i. Fire separates that which is constant or fixed fi-om that which is fugitive or volatile.— 
De Morbis Metalltcis^ Lib. IL, Tract L Fire is the father or active principle of separation.—" Third Fragment 
on Tartar," from the Fragmenta Medica. 



THE CCELUM PH ILOSOPHORUM. 



PART I. 
THE SEVEN CANONS OF THE METALS. 



THE FIRST CANON. 

COMCBRNING THE NaTURE AND PROPERTIES OF MbRCURY.* 

A LL things are concealed in a!L One of them all is the concealer of the 
^~\ rest- their corporeal vessel, external, visible, and movable. All lique- 
factions are manifested In that vessel. For the vessel is a living and 
corporeal spirit, and so all coagulations or congelations enclosed in it, when 
prevented from flowing and surroundedi are not therewith content. No name 
can be found for this liquefaction, by which it may be designated ; still less can 
it be found for its origin. And since no heat Is so strong as to be equalised 
therewith, it should be compared to the fire of Gehenna, A liquefaction of this 
kind has no sort of connection with others made by the heat of natural fire, or 
congelated or coagulated by natural cold. These congelations, through their 
weakness, are unable to obtain In Mercury, and therefore, on that account, he 
altogether contemns them. Hence one may gather that elcmentur}" powers, 
in their process of destruction, can add nothing to, nor take away anything 
from, celestial powers (which are called Quintessence or its elements), nor have 
they any capacity for operating. Celestial and infernal powers do not obey the 
four elements, whether they be dry, moist, hot, or cold. No one of them has 
the faculty of acting against a Quintessence ; but each one contains within 
itself its own powers and means of action, t 



* By the fnedUtion of Vulcan, or fire, aiiy mttai can be generated from Merctu^. At the same time. Mercury is 
ilTiperfect Ah a metal ; it Is iemi-generated and warkting in coogulntion, whidu is the end of jUI metolf. Up lo the h&lf> 
way point of their generation all metals are Mercury. Gold, for eJcninple, i» Mercury ; but it Iosm» the Mcruumi 
nature by coagulation, and althougb the propcrtie* of Mercur>' are present bi it» they are dead, for their vitality i* 
destroyed by ooag^ulation.— J7r Mfffhs J\feiafikit, Lib. Ul., Tract 11., c* a. The essences and arcaras which arc 
latent in all the vi» o petals are to be found in the substance of Mercury. ~/^jV., c y There lue two gctiera of 
Mereun% the /ii«ed Mercury of rarth and another kind which deaccndji from the daily constctlatjon,— /^i</,, Lib. I., 
Tract IL, c, 4. As there i* a red and white Sulphur of Marcaiites, a yellow, rcfJ* and black Sulphur of Talc, a 
purple mud black Sulphur of the Cachimue, a Sulphur of Cinnabar, and, in like manner, or ntarble, amethyst, etc., so U 
ihoe a special Mercury of Copper, Plumbago, Zinc, Arsenic, tXc—l^id. Mercury is not Quicksilver, for Mercury is 
dead, white Quicksilver ts living.— Z?^ Hfdrofixi. 

t Nothing of true value is looited In the body of a subfitance^ but in the virtue. And this is tlie ptlndple of the 
Qttinteaaenoe, which reduces, say, aolbs. into a single ounce, and lltat ounce far exceeds the entire 3olb«. in potency. 
HcDca tlia lesft there 11 of body, the more in piroportion is the virtue— iJi- Ofigittt M^^^rum Imwni^iiiuM^ Lib. IV, 



6 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

THE SECOND CANON. 
Concerning the Nature and Properties of Jupiter. 

In that which is manifest (that is to say, the body of Jupiter) the other six 
corporeal metals are spiritually concealed, but one more deeply and more 
tenaciously than another. Jupiter has nothing of a Quintessence in his com- 
position, but is of the nature of the four elementaries. On this account his 
liquefaction is brought about by the application of a moderate fire, and, in like 
manner, he is coagulated by moderate cold. He has affinity with the 
liquefactions of all the other metals. For the more like he is to some other 
nature, the more easily he is united thereto by conjunction. For the operation 
of those nearly allied is easier and more natural than of those which are 
remote. The remote body does not press upon the other. At the same time, 
it is not feared, though it may be very powerful. Hence it happens that men 
do not aspire to the superior orders of creation, because they are far distant 
from them, and do not see their glory. In like manner, they do not much fear 
those of an inferior order, because they are remote, and none of the living 
knows their condition or has experienced the misery of their punishment. For 
this cause an infernal spirit is accounted as nothing. For more remote objects 
are on that account held more cheaply and occupy a lower place, since 
according to the propriety of its position each object turns out better, or is 
transmuted. This can be proved by various examples. 

The more remote, therefore, Jupiter is found to be from Mars and Venus, 
and the nearer Sol and Luna, the more **goldness" or **silveriness," if I 
may so say, it contains in its body, and the greater, stronger, more visible, 
more tangible, more amiable, more acceptable, more distinguished, and more 
true it is found than in some remote body. Again, the more remote a thing 
is, of the less account is it esteemed in all the respects aforesaid, since what is 
present is always preferred before what is absent. In proportion as the nearer 
is clear the more remote is occult. This, therefore, is a point which you, 
as an Alchemist, must seriouly debate with yourself, how you can relegate 
Jupiter to a remote and abstruse place, which Sol and Luna occupy, and how, 
in turn, you can summon Sol and Luna from remote positions to a near place, 
where Jupiter is corporeally posited ; so that, in the same way, Sol and Luna 
also may really be present there corporeally before your eyes. For the trans- 
mutation of metals from imperfection to perfection there are several practical 
receipts. Mix the one with the other. Then again separate the one pure 
from the other. This is nothing else but the process of permutation, set in 
order by perfect alchemical labour. Note that Jupiter has much gold and not 
a little silver. Let Saturn and Luna be imposed on him, and of the rest Luna 
will be augmented.* 



• Tin, or Jupiter, b pure Mercury coagulated with a small quantity of Salt, but combined with a larger proportion 
of white Sulphur. It derives its colours, white, yellow, or red, from its Mercur>'. Its sublimation is also bj- 
Mercury, and its resolution by Salt, and it b sublimed and resolved by these.— Z^« EUmento Aqua^ Tract III., c. 6. 



The Ccelum Phihsophorum, f 

THE THIRD CANON. 

Concerning Mars and I Us Properties. 

The six occult metals have expelled the seventh from thenit and have 
made it corporeal, leaving it little efficacy, and imposing on it great hardness 
and weight. This being the case, they have shaken off all their own strength 
of coagulation and hardness, which they manifest in this other body. On the 
contrary, they have retained in themselves their colour and liquefaction, 
together with their nobility- It is very difficult and laborious for a prince or a 
king to be produced out of an unfit and common man. But Mars acquires 
dominion with strong and pugnacious hand, and seizes on the position of 
king. He should, however, be on his guard against snares, that he be not 
led captive suddenly and unexpectedly. It must also be considered by what 
method Mars may be able to take the place of king, and Sol and Luna» with 
Saturn, hold the place of Mars.* 

THE FOURTH CANON, 

Concerning Venus and Its Properties. 

The other six metals have rendered Venus an extrinsical body by means 
of all their colour and method of liquefaction. It may be necessary, in order to 
understand this, that we should show, by some examples, how a manifest 
thing may be rendered occult, and an occult thing rendered materially manifest 
by means of fire. Whatever is combustible can be naturally transmuted by 
fire from one form into another, namely, into lime, soot, ashes, glass, colours, 
stones, and earth. This last can again be reduced to many new metaUic 
bodies. If a metal, too, be burnt, or rendered fragile by old rust, it can again 
acquire malleability by applications of fire.f 

THE FIFTH CANON. 

Concerning the Nature and Properties of Saturn* 

Of his own nature Saturn speaks thus : The other six have cast me out 
as their examiner. They have thrust me forth from them and from a 
spiritual place. They have also added a corruptible body as a place of abode, 
so that I may be what they neither are nor desire to become. My six brothers 
are spiritual, and thence it ensues that so often as I am put in the fire they 
penetrate my body and, together with me, perish in the fire, Sol and Luna 



♦ In the geaicration of Iron there U a largex proportirwii of Salt and Mercury', while th« red Sulphur from which 
cxipper proceed:^ U present in a Kinsillcr quantity. It coniaim also a cuprine soltj. but tiot in equal profjiortian w\l\\ 
Mercury, [is constituents are \\% own body, which preponderates ; then cornea Salt* afterwards Mercury^ ttttd* U«tly, 
Sulphur, When there is mcirc Salt than the composition of Sulphur m|uixc», the met»] can in no wue be made^ for it 
depends upon an eqtial weight of each. For fIuxibiUr>' proceedi from Mercury and coa^uhition from Sail. AccordinKly, 
If there be loo much Salt it becomes too hard.— ^# El^mtnt^ AqutTf Lib. IV., Tract III., c. 4. 

t Venus is the first metal getietaled by the Archeua of Nature from the three prime principles after the UUurouMte.* 
and cachimici have been separated firom thete. It 16 formed of the gross redness which \^ purged off from th« pdmal 
Sulphur, cif the Ught red eji^pelled in like aumDO- frooi the Mercury^ and of the deep ydlow sepanued in the 
porificfttion of the prime Salt by this same Archeua.— /^u^, c. j. 



8 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

excepted. These are purified and ennobled in my water. My spirit is a water 
softening the rigid and congelated bodies of my brothers. Yet my body is 
inclined to the earth. Whatever is received into me becomes conformed 
thereto, and by means of us is converted into one body. It would be of little 
use to the world if it should learn, or at least believe, what lies hid In me, and 
what I am able to effect. It would be more profitable it should ascertain %vhat 
I am able to do with myself. Deserting all the methods of the Alchemists, it 
would then use only that which is in me and can be done by me. The stone 
of cold is in me. This Is a water by means of which I make the spirits of the 
six metals congeal into the essence of the seventh, and this is to promote Sol 
with Luna,* 

Two kinds of Antimony are found ; one the common black, by which Sol 
is purified when liquefied therein. This has the closest affinity with Saturn. 
The other kind is the white, which is also called Magnesia and Bismuth. It 
has great affinity with Jupiter, and when mixed with the other Antimony it 
augments Luna. 

THE SIXTH CANON. 
Concerning Luna and the Properties thereof. 

The endeavour to make Saturn or Mars out of Luna involves no lighter 
or easier work than to make Luna, with great gain, out of Mercur}% Jupiter, 
Mars, Venus, or Saturn. It is not useful to transmute what is perfect into 
what is imperfect, but the latter into the former. Nevertheless, it is well to know 
what is the material of Luna, or whence it proceeds. Whoever is not able to 
consider or find this out will neither be able to make Luna It will be asked, 
What is Luna ? It is among the seven metals which are spiritually concealed, 
itself the seventh^ external^ corporeal, and material. For this seventh always 
contains the six metals spiritually hidden in itself. And the six spiritual 
metals do not exist without one external and material metaU So also no 
corporeal metal can have place or essence without those six spiritual ones. 
The seven corporeal metals mix easily by means of liquefaction > but this 
mixture is not useful for making Sol or Luna. For in that mixture each metal 
remains in its own nature, or fixed in the fire, or flies from it. For example, 
mix, in any way you can. Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Sol, 
and Luna, It will not thence result that Sol and Luna will so change the 
other five that, by the agency of Sol and Luna, these will become Sol and 
Luna. For though all be liquefied into a single mass, nevertheless each 
remains in its nature whatever it is. This is the judgment which must 
be passed on corporeal mixture. But concerning spiritual mixture and 



* Lead Is tbeblAijkne^ of the three first principles, which, however^ is by tio means n superfluity, but a peculiar 
ineUlllc nature in them existing^. For all metak are latent in Mercury, and they arc all only Mercury. The »ame is to 
be concluded coxiccrurrig Salt anfJ Sulphur. Thus, as copper is the abundant rcdiioiA of the three principles, so Le.-id in 
their btackne^ ; but, at ibe *anie time, tbcr« are four colours concealed therein the blacknc**, purged off from the 
three principles ; redness, whicU contains a precipitate out of Mercury ; whitene&&, from the calcination of Mercury \ 
and a certain yellowness^ derived from Mcrciiry. Thus the gros&ness and the colours are alike due to Mercury, and 
Lead u, in fact, a black Mercury. -Uid.^ c 5. 



The Ccelum Philosophonim. 9 

communion of the metals, it should be known that no separation or 
mortification is spiritual, because such spirits can never exist without bodies. 
Though the body should be taken away from them and mortified a hundred 
times in one hour^ nevertheless, they would always acquire another much 
more noble than the former. And this is the transposition of the metals from 
one death to another, that is to say, from a lesser deg^ree into one greater and 
higher, namely, into Luna ; and from a better into the best and most 
most perfect, that is, into Sol, the brilliant and altogether royal metaL It is 
most true, then, as frequently said above, that the six metals always 
generate a seventh, or produce it from themselves clear in its esse, 

A question may arise : If it be true that Luna and every metal derives its 
origin and is generated from the other six, w^hat is then its property and its 
nature ? To this we reply : From Saturn, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and 
Sol, nothing and no other metal than Luna could be made. The cause is 
that each metal has t%vo good virtues of the other six, of which altogether 
there are twelve. These are the spirit of Luna, w^hich thus in a few w*ords 
may be made known. Luna is composed of the six spiritual metals and their 
virtues, whereof each possesses two. Altogether, therefore, twelve are thus 
posited in one corporeal metal, which are compared to the seven planets and 
the twelve celestial signs. Luna has from the planet Mercurj^ and from 
Aquarius and Pisces, its liquidity and bright white colour. 9t ^^» ^^^ K- 
So Luna has from Jupiter, with +^ (Sagittarius) and Taurus, its white colour 
and its great firmness in fire. V 1 ^-+ 1 b . Luna has from Mars, with Cancer 
and Aries, Its hardness and its clear sound* <? , cs, and T- Luna has from 
Venus, with Gemini and Libra, its measure of coagulation and its malleability. 
9 , n, and Libra. From Saturn, with Virgo and ^ (Scorpio), its homogene- 
ous body, with gravity. I7 , ITf, and ;§. From Sol, with Leo and Virgo, its 
spotless purity and great constancy against the power of fire, 0, J2, and TTJ. 
Such is the knowledge of the natural exaltation and of the course of the spirit 
and body of Luna, with its composite nature and wisdom briefly summarised* 

Furthermore, it should be pointed out what kind of a body such metallic 
spirits acquire In their primitive generation by means of celestial influx. For 
the metal-digger, when he has crushed the stone, contemptible as it is in ap- 
pearance, liquefies it, corrupts it, and altogether mortifies it with fire. Then 
this metallic spirit, in such a process ol mortification, receives a better and more 
noble body, not friable but malleable. Then comes the Alchemist, who again 
corrupts, mortifies, and artificially prepares such a metallic body. Thus once 
more that spirit of the metal assumes a more noble and more perfect body, 
putting itself forward clearly into the light, except it be Sol or Luna. Then 
at last the metallic spirit and body are perfectly united, are safe from the 
corruption of elementary fire, and also incorruptible^* 



* When ihe three prime principles ha^'c been purged of their superfluities. And from the taid ftuperfluiiiei the 
imperfect metd^ have tieen generated, there remAins nothing gro«fi or crtide, either in colour or suhstJince, hut only a 
very subtle tuiturc of a white and purple hue. Thtt u Uie asost pure quality oC Mercury, Saltj aad Sulphur^ tooet clear 



lo The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

THE SEVENTH CANON. 

Concerning the Nature of Sol and its Properties. 

The seventh after the six spiritual metals is corporeally Sol, which in itself 
is nothing but pure fire. What in outward appearance is more beautiful, 
more brilliant, more clear and perceptible, a heavier, colder, or more homo- 
geneous body to see ? And it is easy to perceive the cause of this, namely, that it 
contains in itself the congelations of the other six metals, out of which it is 
made externally into one most compact body. Its liquefaction proceeds from 
elementary fire, or is caused by the liquations of Mercury, with Pisces and 
Aquarius, concealed spiritually within it. The most manifest proof of this is 
that Mercury is easily mingled corporeally with the Sun as in an embrace. But 
for Sol, when the heat is withdrawn and the cold supervenes after liquefaction, 
to coagulate and to become hard and solid, there is need of the other five metals, 
whose nature it embraces in itself — ^Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Luna. In 
these five metals the cold abodes with their regimens are especially found. 
Hence it happens that Sol can with difficulty be liquefied without the heat of 
fire, on account of the cold whereof mention has been made. For Mercury 
cannot assist with his natural heat or liquefaction, or defend himself against 
the cold of the five metals, because the heat of Mercury is not sufficient to 
retain Sol in a state of liquefaction. Wherefore Sol has to obey the five 
metals rather than Mercury alone. Mercury itself has no office of itself save 
always to flow. Hence it happens that in coagulations of the other metals it 
can effect nothing, since its nature is not to make anything hard or solid, but 
liquid. To render fluid is the nature of heat and life, but cold has the nature 
of hardness, consolidation, and immobility, which is compared to death. For 
example, the six cold metals, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Luna, if 
they are to be liquefied must be brought to that condition by the heat of fire. 
Snow or ice, which are cold, will not produce this effect, but rather will 
harden. As soon as ever the metal liquefied by fire is removed therefrom, the 
cold, seizing upon it, renders it hard, congelated, and immovable of itself. 
But in order that Mercury may remain fluid and alive continually, say, I pray 
you, whether this will be affected with heat or cold ? Whoever answers that 
this is brought about by a cold and damp nature, and that it has its life from 
cold— the promulgator of this opinion, having no knowledge of Nature, is led 
away by the vulgar. For the vulgar man judges only falsely, and always holds 
firmly on to his error. So then let him who loves truth withdraw therefrom. 
Mercury, in fact, lives not at all from cold but from a warm and fiery nature. 



and excellent in form, substance, essence, and colour. These two essences, namely, the white and the purple, are 
separated by the Archeus, and out of the first, fixed and coagulated, is formed silver, while from the purple there is 
generated gold, which b the most noble Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, separated from all other colours, and consisting 
of purple alone. Its clayey or yellow appearance b accounted for by the subtlety and clearness of the metal, because 
all the dull colours are removed. In Silver the most prevalent colours are green and blue, which are respectively 
derived from the Mercury and the Salt, the Sulphur contributing nothing in the matter of colouring. On the other 
hand, in gold the purple colour is derived from Salt, the pellucid redness from Sulphiu-, and the yellow from Merctiry. 
—Ibid., c. 8. 



The Cctlum Philosophorum. 



II 



Whatever lives is fire, because heat Is life, but cold the occasion of death. The 
fire of Sol is of itself pure, not indeed alive, but hard, and so far shews the 
colour of sulphur in that yellow and red are mixed therein in due proportion. 
The five cold metals are Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, and Luna, which assign 
to Sol their virtues ; according to cold, the body itself ; according to fire, 
colour ; according to dryness, solidity ; according to humidity, weight ; and 
out of brightness, sound. But that gold is not burned in the clement of 
terrestrial fire, nor is even corrupted, is effected by the firmness of Sol. For 
one fire cannot burn another, or even consume it ; but rather if fire be added 
to fire it is increased, and becomes more powerful in its operations. The 
celestial fire which flows to us on the earth from the Sun is not such a fire as 
there is in heaven, neither is it like that which exists upon the earth, but that 
celestial fire with us is cold and congealed, and it is the body of the Sun. 
Wherefore the Sun can in no way be overcome by our fire. This only 
happens, that it is liquefied, like snow or ice, by that same celestial Sun. 
Fire, therefore, has not the power of burning fire, because the Sun is fire, 
which, dissolved in heaven, is coagulated with us. 



Gold is in its 


I Celestial 




Dissolved 


Essence three- 


2 Elementary 


and 


Fluid 


fold 


3 Metallic 


is 


Corporeal, 



The End of the Seven Canons. 



THE CCELUM PHILOSOPHORUM. 



PART II. 

CERTAIN TREATISES AND APPENDICES ARISING OUT OF 
THE SEVEN CANONS. 



God and Nature do Nothing in Vain. 

THE eternal position of all things, independent of time, without beginning 
or end, operates everywhere. It works essentially where otherwise 
there is no hope. It accomplishes that which is deemed impossible. 
What appears beyond belief or hope emerges into truth after a wonderful 
fashion. 

Note on Mercurius Vivus. 

Whatever tinges with a white colour has the nature of life, and the 
properties and power of light, which causally produces life. Whatever, on 
the other hand, tinges with blackness, or produces black, has a nature in 
common with death, the properties of darkness, and forces productive of 
death. The earth with its frigidity is a coagulation and fixation of this kind 
of hardness. For the house is always dead ; but he who inhabits the house 
lives. If you can discover the force of this illustration you have conquered. 

Tested liquefactive powder. 
Burn fat verbena.* 

Recipe. — Salt nitre, four ounces ; a moiety of sulphur ; tartar, one ounce. 
Mix and liquefy. 

What is to be thought concerning the Congelation of Mercury. 

To mortify or congeal Mercury, and afterwards seek to turn it into Luna, 
and to sublimate it with great labour, is labour in vain, since it involves a 
dissipation of Sol and Luna existing therein. There is another method, 
far different and much more concise, whereby, with little waste of Mercury 
and less expenditure of toil, it is transmuted into Luna without congelation. 
Any one can at pleasure learn this Art in Alchemy, since it is so simple and 
easy ; and by it, in a short time, he could make any quantity of silver and 

* Verbenas adole pingues, et mascula tura.— Virg., Eel. viii. 65. 



The Cesium Philosophorum. 



n 



gfold. It is tedious to read long descriptions^ and every^body wishes to be 
advised in straightforward words. Do this, then ; proceed as follow^s, and 
you will have Sol and Liinai by help whereof you will turn out a verj' rich man. 
Wait awhile, I beg, while this process is described to you in few words, 
and keep these words well digested^ so that out of Saturn, Mercury, and 
Jupiter you may make Sol and Luna. There is not, nor ever will be^ any art 
so easy to find out and practise, and so effective in itself. The method of 
making Sol and Luna by Alchemy is so prompt that there is no more need of 
books, or of elaborate instruction, than there would be if one wished to write 
about last year*s snow. 

CONCBRNING THE RECEIPTS OP AlCHEMY. 

What, then, shall we say about the receipts of Alchemy, and about the 
diversity of its vessels and instruments ? These are furnaces, glasses, jars, 
waters, oils, limes, sulphurs, salts, saltpetres* alums, vitriols, chr>*socoll£e, 
copper-greens, atraments, auri-pigments, fel vitri, ceruse, red earth, thucia, 
wax, lutum sapientiEe, pounded glass, verdigris, soot, testge ovorum, crocus of 
Mars, soap, crystal, chdk, arsenic, antimony, minium, elixir, lazurium, gold- 
leaf, salt-nitre, sal ammoniac, calamine stone, magnesia, bolus armenus, and 
many other things. Moreover, concerning preparations, putrefactions, 
digestions, probations, solutions, cementings, titrations, reverberations, 
calcinations, graduations, rectifications, amalgamations, purgations, etc., with 
these alchemical books are crammed. Then, again, concerning herbs, roots, 
seeds, woods, stones, animals, %vorms, bone dust, snail shells, other shells, 
and pitch. These and the like, whereof there are some very far-fetched in 
Alchemy, are mere Incumbrances of work ; since even if Sol and Luna could be 
made by them they rather hinder and delay than further one*s purpose. But it 
is not from these— to say the truth— that the Art of making Sol and Luna is to 
be learnt. So, then, all these things should be passed by, because they have 
no effect with the five metals, so far as Sol and Luna are concerned. Someone 
may ask. What, then, is this short and easy way, which involves no difficulty, 
and yet whereby Sol and Luna can be made ? Our answer is, this has been 
fully and openly explained in the Seven Canons. It would be lost labour 
should one seek further to instruct one who does not understand these. It 
would be impossible to convince such a person that these matters could be so 
easily understood, but in an occult rather than in an open sense. 

The Art is this : After you have made heaven, or the sphere of Saturn, 
with its life to run over the earth, place on it all the planets, or such, one or 
more, as you wish, so that the portion of Luna may be the smallest. Let all 
run, until heaven, or Saturn, has entirely disappeared. Then all those planets 
will remain dead with their old corruptible bodies, having meanwhile obtained 
another new, perfect, and incorruptible body. 

That body is the spirit of heaven. From it these planets again receive a 
body and life, and live as before. Take this body from the life and the earth. 



liJ 

Q. 
Q. 
< 



f 



1 14 TAe Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

I Keep it. It is Sol and Luna. Here you have the Art altogether, clear and 

S entire. If you do not yet understand it, or are not practised therein, it is 

/ well. It is better that it should be kept concealed, and not made public. 

» How TO Conjure the Crystal so that all things may be seen in it. 

To conjure is nothing else than to observe anything rightly, to know 
and to understand what it is. The crystal is a figure of the air. Whatever 
appears in the air, movable or immovable, the same appears also in the 
speculum or crystal as a wave. For the air, the water, and the crystal, so far 
as vision is concerned, are one, like a mirror in which an inverted copy of an 
object is seen. 

Concerning the Heat of Mercury. 

Those who think that Mercury is of a moist and cold nature are plainly in 
error, because it is by its nature in the highest degree warm and moist, which 
is the cause of its being in a constant state of fluidity. If it were of a moist 
and cold nature it would have the appearance of frozen water, and be always 
' hard and solid, so that it would be necessary to liquefy it by the heat of fire, 

! as in the case of the other metals. But it does not require this, since it has 

liquidity and flux from its own heat naturally inborn in it, which keeps it in a 
state of perpetual fluidity and renders it ** quick," so that it can neither die, 
nor be coagulated, nor congealed. And this is well worth noticing, that the 
\ spirits of the seven metals, or as many of them as have been commingled, as 

I . soon as they come into the fire, contend with one another, especially Mercury, 

' so that each may put forth its powers and virtues in the endeavour to get the 

; mastery in the way of liquefying and transmuting. One seizes on the virtue, 

I life, and form of another, and assigns some other nature and form to this one. 

f So then the spirits or vapours of the metals are stirred up by the heat to 

operate mutually one upon the other, and transmute from one virtue to 
another, until perfection and purity are attained. 

But what must be done besides to Mercury in order that its moisture and 
heat may be taken away, and in their place such an extreme cold introduced as 
to congeal, consolidate, and altogether mortify the Mercury? Do what 
I follows in the sentence subjoined : Take pure Mercury closely shut up in a 

f silver pixis. Fill a jar with fragments of lead, in the midst of which place 

j the pixis. Let it melt for twenty-four hours, that is, for a natural day. This 

I takes away from Mercury his occult heat, adds an external heat, and con- 

tributes the internal coldness of Saturn and Luna (which are both planets of 
a cold nature), whence and whereby the Mercury is compelled to congeal, 
consolidate, and harden. 

Note also that the coldness (which Mercury needs in its consolidation and 
mortification) is not perceptible by the external sense, as the cold of snow or 
of ice is, but rather, externally, there is a certain amount of apparent heat. 
Just in the same way is it with the heat of Mercury, which is the cause of its 
fluidity. It is not an external heat, perceptible in the same way as one of our 



The Ccelum Pkilasopkorum. 



J5 



qualities. Nay, externally a sort of coldness is perceptible. Whence the 
Sophists (a race which has more talk than true wisdom) falsely assert that 
Mercury is cold and of a moist nature, so that they go on and advise us to 
congeal it by means of heat ; whereas heat only renders it more fluid, as they 
daily find out to their own loss rather than gain. 

True Alchemy which alone, by its unique Art, teaches how to fabricate 
Sol and Luna from the five imperfect metals, allows no other receipt than 
this, which well and truly says : Only from metals, in metals, by metab, and 
with metals, are perfect metals made, for in some things is Luna and in other 
metals is Sol. 

What Materials and Instruments are required in Alchemy. 
There is need of nothing else but a foundry, bellows, tongs, hammers, 
cauldrons^ jars, and cupels made from beechen ashes. Afterwards, lay on 
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Venus, Mercury, and Luna. Let them operate 
finally up to Saturn. 

The Method of Seeking Minerals. 

The hope of finding these in the earth and in stones is most uncertain, 
and the labour very great* However, since this is the first mode of getting 
them, it is in no way to be despised, but greatly commended. Such a desire or 
appetite ought no more to be done away with than the lawful inclination of 
young people, and those in the prime of life, to matrimony. As the bees long 
for roses and other flowers for the purpose of making honey and wax, so, too, 
men — apart from avarice or their own aggrandisement — should seek to extract 
metal from the earth. He who does not seek it is not likely to find it. 
God dowers men not only with gold or silver, but also with poverty* squalor, 
and misery. He has given to some a singular knowledge of metals and 
minerals, whereby they have obtained an easier and shorter method of 
fabricating gold and silver, without digging and smelting them, than they were 
commonly accustomed to, by extracting them from their primitive bodies. 
And this is the case not only with subterranean substances, but by certain 
arts and knowledge they have extracted them from the five metals generally 
(that is to say, from metals excocted from minerals which are imperfect 
and called metals), viz., from Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Venus, 
from all of which, and from each of them separately, Sol and Luna can be 
made, but from one more easily than from another. Note, that Sol and Luna 
can be made easily from Mercur)% Saturn, and Jupiter, but from Mars and 
Venus with diflficulty. It is possible to make them, however, but with the 
addition of Sol and Luna. Out of Magnesium and Saturn comes Luna, and 
out of Jupiter and Cinnabar pure Sol takes its rise. The skilful artist, 
however (how well I remember I), will be able by diligent consideration to 
prepare metals so that, led by a true method of reasoning, he can promote 
the perfection of metallic transformation more than do the courses of the 
twelve signs and the seven planets. In such matters it is quite superfluous to 



1 6 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

watch these courses, as also their aspects, good or bad days or hours, the 
prosperous or unlucky condition of this or that planeti for these matters can 
do no good> and much less can they do harm in the art of natural Alchemy. 
If otherwise, and you have a feasible process, operate when you please. 
If, however, there be anything wanting in you or your mode of working, or 
your understanding, the planets and the stars of heaven will fail you in 
your work. 

If metals remain buried long enough in the earth, not only are they 
consumed by rust, but by long continuance they are even transmuted into 
natural stones, and there are a great many of these ; but this is known to few. 
For there is found in the earth old stone money of the heathens, printed with 
their different figures. These coins were originally metallic, but jthrough the 
transmutation brought about by Nature, they were turned into stone. 

What Alchemy is. 

Alchemy is nothing else but the set purpose, intention, and subtle 
endeavour to transmute the kinds of the metals from one to another.* 
According to this, each person, by his own mental grasp, can choose out for 
himself a better way and Art, and therein find truth, for the man who follows 
a thing up more intently does find the truth. It is highly necessary to have a 
correct estimation of stars and of stones, because the star is the informing 
spirit of all stones. For the Sol and Luna of al! the celestial stars are nothing 
but one stone in itself; and the terrestrial stone Ijas come forth from the celes- 
tial stone ; through the same fire, coals, ashes, the same expulsions and re- 
purgations as that celestial stone, it has been separated and brought, clear and 
pure in its brightness. The whole ball of the earth is only something thrown 
off, concrete, mixed, corrupted, ground, and again coagulated, and gradually 
liquefied into one mass, into a stony work, which has its seat and its rest in 
the mid«t of the firmamental sphere. 

Further it is to be remarked that those precious stones which shall forth- 
with be set down have the nearest place to the heavenly or sidereal ones in 
point of perfection, purity, beauty, brightness, virtue, power of withstanding 
fire, and incorruptibility, and they have been fixed with other stones in the 
earth, t 

They have, therefore, the greatest affinity with heavenly stones and with 
the stars, because their natures are derived from these. They are found by 



* Alchemy b, &o to speak, a kind of lower he&ven, by which the sun is separated froin the moont day ffotti tilght, 
medicine from poifion, what b> useful from what u refuse*— i?^ Caitca* Therefore learn Alchemy, which k otherwise 
called Spag^iia. Thb teftches you to discern between the true and the false. Such a Light of Nature b tt that it Is 
a mode of proof iti all clungs, and walks in light. Frotn this Hgbt of Nature we oxxghl to know ami «pcak, not from 
mere phantasy^ whence nothing i& begotten save the four humours and their compounds, augmentation, stagnafion^ and 
decrease, with other trifte<i of thi$ kind* These proceed, not from the clear intellect, that full treasure-liouie of a good 
man, but rather are ba&ed on a fictilioua and in**curt foundation. -^AirAM/rwiw, Lib. L, c. 3- 

f When the occtdt dispenser of Nature in the prime principle$» that is to say, the poteiircy called Ares, has 
produced the gross and rough genera of $tooe&, and no further grossoess remains^ a diaphanous and subtle substance 
remains, out of which the Archeus of Nature generates the predoufi stones or ^<e.ms.~Df EUmento AqtUTf Lib, IV., 
Tract IV., c 10. 



The Coelum Pfnlosophorum. 



17 



men in a rude environment, and the common herd {whose property it is to 
take false views of things) believe that they were produced in the same place 
where they are foiindi and that they were afterwards polished^ carried aroimd» 
and sold, and accounted to be great riches, on account of their colours, 
beauty, and other virtues, A brief description of them follows : — 

The Emerald, This is a green transparent stone. It does good to the 
eyes and the memory* It defends chastit>^ ; and if this be violated by 
him who carries it, the stone itself does not remain perfect.* 

The AdamanL A black crystal called Adamant or else Evax, on account 
of the joy which It is effectual in impressing on those who carry it. It Is of an 
obscure and transparent blackness, the colour of iron. It is the hardest of all ; 
but is dissolved in the blood of a goat. Its size at tlie largest does not exceed 
that of a hazel nut.f 

The Magnet Is an iron stone, and so attracts iron to itself. J 

T^ie Pearl The Pearl is not a stone, because it is produced in sea shells. 
It is of a white colour. Seeing that it grows in animated beings, in men or 
in fishes, it is not properly of a stony nature, but properly a depraved (other- 
wise a transmuted) nature supervening upon a perfect work.§ 

The Jacinth Is a yellow, transparent stone. There is a flower of the 
same name which, according to the fable of the poets» is said to have been a 
man. II 

The Sapphire Is a stone of a celestial colour and a heavenly nature.H 

The Ruby Shines with an Interisely red nature. ** 

The Carbuncle, A solar stone, shining by its own nature like the sun. tt 

The Coral Is a white or red stone, not transparent. It grows in the 
sea, out of the nature of the ivater and the air, into the form of wood or a 
shrub ; it hardens in the air, and is not capable of being destroyed in fire. J | 



* The body of the Emerald U derived from a kind of petrine Mercury, 1 1 receives from the tame its colour* 
ooagnlatcd with spirit of Salt. —I bed., c, 12. 

t The most concentrated hardness of all ^toocs combines for the generation of the adamants The white adamant 
has tU body from Mercury^ and its coagiilalion from the Siptrit of Salt. - Ihtf., c. 14, 

X FortiBed by experience, which is the mistress of alt things, and b>' mature thcorj^ baAed ofi experience, I oMrm 
that the Magnet i* a stone which not only imdentaUy attracts §tee1 and iron, but 'ha* also the tame power over the 
mailer of all disease* in the whole body of tjuin*— /3f Coraliis. See Htrhnttux Tht9>^hra^t*. 

f The Pearl is a seed of moUture, It generates milk abundantly in women if they are dcikient Ihereirt.^ 
Z?*" Aridmta. 

1; The Jacinth, or Hyacinth, is a gem of the same genus as the Carbuncle, but is infenor thereto in its natufe. — 
Dt Eltm*HH* Aqu<r, Lib. IV., Tract IV., c n. 

^ In the matter of body and colour the Sapphire i* generated from Mercur>' (the prime principle). It is formed 
over white Sulphur and white Salt from a pallid petrine Mercury. Hence white Sapphires frequently occiu- because a 
white Mercury concun in ihe fonnaiion. In Uke manner a tute-coloured Mercury soioctunea producer a day-like 
hue.— Ibid,,, CIS. 

• • The Ruby and similar gems possessing a ruddy hue are generated from the red of Sulphur, and their body is of 
petrine Mercury. For Mercury is the body of ever>' precious stone.— M/i/., c* >j. 

tt The Carbuncle is formed of the most transparent matter which is conserved in the three principle*. Mercury Is 
the body and Sulphur the colouring thereof, with a modicum of the spirit of Salt, on account of the coagulation. AIJ 
light abounds therein, because Sulphur contains in itself a clcnir quality of Ught, us the art of its IransmutalioQ 
demonstrates^— /iff/., c 11. 

\X There are two species of red C<)rals -one a dull red» which varies between sub-purple and semx^btack ; the other a 
resplendent and brilliant red. As the colours differ, so also do the virtues. There is also a whitish species which is 
alfnost destitute of eflficacy. In a word, as the Coral dimintshs in redne», so it weakens in its qualities. ^-//r>^n«« 
Th*ofhrtui%; D§ C^rmittt, 

c 



1 8 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

The Chalcedony Is a stone made up of different colours, occupying a 
middle place between obscurity and transparency, mixed also with cloudiness, 
and liver coloured. It is the lowest of all the precious stones.* 

The Topas Is a stone shining by night. It is found among rocks, t 

The Amethyst Is a stone of a purple and blood colour. | 

The Chrysoprasus Is a stone which appears like fire by night, and like 
gold by day. 

The Crystal Is a white stone, transparent, and very like ice. It is sub- 
limated, extracted, and produced from other stones. § 

As a pledge and firm foundation of this matter, note the following con- 
clusion. If anyone intelligently and reasonably takes care to exercise himself 
in learning about the metals, what they are, and whence they are produced : 
he may know that our metals are nothing else than the best part and the spirit 
of common stones, that is, pitch, grease, fat, oil, and stone. But this is least 
pure, uncontaminated, and perfect, so long as it remains hidden or mixtd with 
the stones. It should therefore be sought and found in the stones, be recog- 
nised in them, and extracted from them, that is, forcibly drawn out and 
liquefied. For then it is no longer a stone, but an elaborate and perfect metal, 
comparable to the stars of heaven, which are themselves, as it were, stones 
separated from those of earth. 

Whoever, therefore, studies minerals and metals must be furnished with 
such reason and intelligence that he shall not regard only those common and 
known metals which are found in the depth of the mountains alone. For there 
is often found at the very surface of the earth such a metal as is not met with 
at all, or not equally good, in the depths. And so every stone which comes to 
our view, be it great or small, flint or simple rock, should be carefully investi- 
gated and weighed with a true balance, according to its nature and properties. 
Very often a common stone, thrown away and despised, is worth more than a 
cow. Regard must not always be had to the place of digging from which 
this stone came forth ; for here the influence of the sky prevails. Everywhere 
there is presented to us earth, or dust, or sand, which often contain much gold 
or silver, and this you will mark. 



Herb ends the Ccelum Philosophorum. 



* The gem Chalced(»iy is extracted from Salt. — CA/rwr/Ya Magna; D» Tumorilmt^ ttc^ Morhi Galliciy 
Ub. III., c. 6. 

t The Topaz is an extract from the minera of Mars, and is a transplanted Iron.— /^V. 

t The Amethyst Ls an extract of Salt, while Marble and Chalcedony are extracted from the same principle through 
the Amethyst.— /^iV/. 

I The origin of Crystals is to be referred to water. They contain mthin them a spirit of coagulation wh^eby they 
are coagulated, as water by the freezing and glacial stars. —Lib, Meteorum^ c 7. 



THE BOOK CONCERNING THE TINCTURE OF THE 

PHILOSOPHERS 

WRITTEN AGAINST THOSE SOPHISTS BORN SINCE THE DELUGE, IN THE AGE OF 
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD ; 

By ph. THEOPHRASTUS BOMBAST, of hohenheim» 

Philosopher of the Monarchia^ Prince of Spagyrists^ Chief Astronomer^ 
Surpassing Physician^ and Trimiegistus of Mechanical Arcafta, 



PREFACE. 

SINCE you, O Sophist, ever)' where abuse me with such fatuous and menda- 
cious words, on the ground that being sprung from rude Helvetia I can 
understand and know nothing : and also because being a duly qualified 
physician I still wander from one district to another ; therefore I have pro- 
posed by means of this treatise to disclose to the ignorant and inexperienced : 
what good arts existed in the first age ; what my art avails against you and 
yours against me ; what should be thought of each, and how my posterity in 
this age of grace will imitate me. Look at Hermes, Archelaus, and others 
in the first age : see what Spagyrists and what Philosophers then existed. 
By this they testify that their enemies, who are your patrons, O Sophist, at 
the present time are but mere empty forms and idols. Although this would 
not be attested by those who are falsely considered your authentic fathers and 
saints, yet the ancient Emerald Table shews more art and experience in Phil- 
osophy, Alchemy, Magic, and the like, than could ever be taught by you and 
your crowd of followers. If you do not yet understand, from the aforesaid 
facts» what and how great treasures these are, tell me why no prince or king 
was ever able to subdue the Egyptians. Then tell me why the Emperor 
Diocletian ordered all the Spagyric books to be burnt (so far as he could lay 
his hands upon them). Unless the contents of those books had been known* 
they would have been obliged to bear still his intolerable yoke, — a yoke, 
O Sophist, which shall one day be put upon the neck of yourself and your 
colleagues. 

From the middle of this age the Monarchy of all the Arts has been at 
length derived and conferred on me, Theophrastus Paracelsus, Prince of 
Philosophy and of Medicine. For this purpose I have been chosen by God to 

C2 



20 The Herfnetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

extinguish and blot out all the phantasies of elaborate and false works, of 
delusive and presumptuous words, be they the words of Aristotle, Galen, 
Avicenna, Mesva, or the dogmas of any among their followers. My theory, 
proceeding as it does from the light of Nature, can never, through its consis- 
tency, pass away or be changed : but in the fifty-eighth year after its millennium 
and a half it will then begin to flourish. The practice at the same time 
following upon the theory will be proved by wonderful and incredible signs, so 
as to be open to mechanics and common people, and they will thoroughly 
understand how firm and immovable is that Paracelsic Art against the triflings 
of the Sophists : though meanwhile that sophistical science has to have its 
ineptitude propped up and fortified by papal and imperial privileges. In that 
I am esteemed by you a mendicant and vagabond sophist, the Danube and the 
Rhine will answer that accusation, though I hold my tongue. Those calumnies 
of yours falsely devised against me have often displeased many courts and 
princes, many imperial cities, the knightly order, and the nobility. I have a 
treasure hidden in a certain city called Weinden, belonging to Forum Julii, at 
an inn, — a treasure which neither you, Leo of Rome, nor you, Charles the 
German, could purchase with all your substance. Although the signed star 
has been applied to the arcanum of your names, it is known to none but the 
sons of the divine Spagyric Art. So then, you wormy and lousy Sophist, since 
you deem the monarch of arcana a mere ignorant, fatuous, and prodigal quack, 
now, in this mid age, I determine in my present treatise to disclose the 
honourable course of procedure in these matters, the virtues and preparation 
of the celebrated Tincture of the Philosophers for the use and honour of all 
who love the truth, and in order that all who despise the true arts may be 
reduced to poverty. By this arcanum the last age shall be illuminated 
clearly and compensated for all its losses by the gift of grace and the reward 
of the spirit of truth, so that since the beginning of the world no similar 
germination of the intelligence and of wisdom shall ever have been heard 
of. In the meantime. Vice will not be able to suppress the good, 
nor will the resources of those vicious persons, many though they be, cause 
any loss to the upright. 



THE BOOK CONCERNING THE TINCTURE OF THE 
PHILOSOPHERS. 



CHAPTER h 

IPHILIPPUS Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast, say that, by Divine grace, 
^ many ways have been sought to the Tincture of the Philosophers, which 
finally all came to the same scope and end. Hermes Trismegistus, the 
Egyptian, approached this task in his own method. Orus, the Greek, observed 
the same process. Hali, the Arabian* remained firm in his order. But 
Albertus Mag"nus, the German, followed also a lengthy process* Each one of 
these advanced in proportion to his own method ; nevertheless, ihey all arrived 
at one and the same end, at a long fife, so much desired by the philosophers, 
and also at an honourable sustenance and means of preserving that life in this 
Valley of Miser>% Now at this time, 1, Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast, 
Monarch of the Arcana, am endowed by God with special gifts for this end/) 
that every searcher after this supreme philosophic work may be forced to 
imitate and to follow me, be he Italian, Pole, Gaul, German, or whatsoever or 
whosoever he be. Come hither after me, all you philosophers, astronomers, and 
spagyrists, of however lofty a name ye may be, I will show and open to you, 
Alchemists and Doctors, who are exalted by me with the most consummate 
labours, this corporeal regeneration. I will teach you the tincture, the 
arcanum,* the quintessence, wherein lie hid the foundations of all mysteries 
and of all works. For every person may and ought to believe in another only 
in those matters which he has tried by hre* If any one shall have brought 
forward anything contrary to this method of experimentation in the Spagyric 
Art or in Medicine, there is no reason for your belief in him, since, experimentally, 
through the agency of fire, the true is separated from the false. The light of 
Nature indeed is created in this way, that by means thereof the proof or trial 
of everything may appear, but only to those who walk in this light. With this 
light we will teach, by the very best methods of demonstration, that all those 
who before me have approached this so difiicult province with their own fancies 
and acute speculations have, to their own loss, incurred the danger of their 
foolishness. On which account, fromtny standpoint, many rustics have been 



* The Afcaniun of a substAnce b not the vktue {virttu} but the ct&ence (mi) ami the potency ij^tinfia% ood is 
stronger than the virtue ; neveribeless, an old error of the doctors conferred ibe name of virtues upon the potentud 
tatencev— /*tfrA4Mi'>MM, Lib« IV, Atony things ore elsewhere set forth concerning Lhe Quinlc^i>cnce, l»ut what i» de« 
•Cfibed b really a separation or extraction of the pure frozn the impure^ not a true quiutcsi^nce, aikt it ii more corrtctly 
termed an Arcanum.— £'x//ifoiM Tstimt AMirwwimm, 



22 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

ennobled ; but, on the other hand, through the speculative and opinionative art 
of these many nobles have been changed into clowns, and since they carried 
golden mountains in their head before they had put their hand to the fire. 
First of all, then, there must be learnt — digestions, distillations, sublimations, 
reverberations, extractions, solutions, coagulations, fermentations, fixations, 
and every instrument which is requisite for this work must be mastered by 
experience, such as glass vessels, cucurbites, circulators, vessels of Hermes, 
earthen vessels, baths, blast-furnaces, reverberatories, and instruments of like 
kind, also marble, coals, and tongs. Thus at length you will be able to 
profit in Alchemy and in Medicine. 

But so long as, relying on fancy and opinion, you cleave to your fictitious 
books, you are fitted and predestinated for no one of these things. 

CHAPTER II. 

Concerning the Definition of the Subject antj Matter of the 
Tincture of the Philosophers. 

Before I come, then, to the process of the Tincture, it is needful that I open 
to you the subject thereof : for, up to the present time, this has always been 
kept in a specially occult way by the lovers of truth. So, then, the matter of 
the Tincture (when you understand me in a Spag}'rical sense) is a certain thing 
which, by the art of Vulcan,* passes out of three essences into one essence, or 
it may remain. But, that I may give it its proper name, according to the use 
of the ancients, though it is called by many the Red Lion, still it is known by 
few. This, by the aid of Nature and the skill of the Artist himself, can be 
transmuted into a White Eagle, so that out of one two are produced ; and 
beyond this the brightness of gold does not shine so much for the Spagyrist 
as do these two when kept in one. Now, if you do not understand the use of 
the Cabalists and the old astronomers, you are not born by God for the 
Spagyric art, or chosen by Nature for the work of Vulcan, or created to open 
your mouth concerning Alchemical Arts. The matter of the Tincture, then, is 
a very great pearl and a most precious treasure, and the noblest thing next to 
the manifestation of the Most High and the consideration of men which can 
exist upon earth: This is the Lili of Alchemy and of Medicine, which the philo- 
sophers have so diligently sought after, but, through the failure of entire 
knowledge and complete preparation, they have not progressed to the perfect 
end thereof. By means of their investigations and experiments, only the 



• The office of Vulcan U the separation of the good from the bad. So the Art of Vulcan, which is Alchemy, is like 
unto death, by which the eternal and the temporal are divided one from another. So also this art might be called the 
death of things.— Z?* Morbts Aletaiiicis^ Lib. I., Tract III., c. i. Vulcan is an astral and not a corporal fabricator. - 
Dt CaHuco Atntricis, Par. VI. The artist working in metals and other minerals transforms them into other colours, and 
in »o doing h» operation Is like that of the heaven itself. For as the artist excocts by means of Vulcan, or the igneous 
element, so heaven performs the work of coction through the Sun. The Sun, therefore, is the Vulcan of heaven ac- 
complishing coction in the earth. — Z>^ Icttritiis. Vulcan is the fabricator and architect of all things, nor is his habita- 
lion in heaven only, that is, in the firmament, but equally in all the other elements.— Z.i^. Meteorum^ c 4. Where 
the three prime principles are wanting, there also the igneous essence is absent. The Igneous Vulcan is nothing else 
but Sulpbiu-, Sal Nitrum. and Mercury.— y^/<^., c. 5. 



The Tincture of the Philosophers. 



23 



initial sta^e of the Tincture has been given to us ; but the true foundation, 
which my collea^es must imitate, Krs been left for me, so that no one should 
ming-le their shadows with our good intentions, I, by right after my long 
experiences, correct the Spagyrists, and separate the false or the erroneous from 
the true, since, by long investigations, I have found reasons why I should be 
able justly to blame and to change diverse things. If, indeed, I had found out 
experiments of the ancients better than my own, 1 should scarcely have taken 
up such great labours as, for the sake, the utility, and the advantage of all 
good Alchemists, I have undergone willingly. Since, then, the subject of the 
Tincture has been sufficiently declared, so that it scarcely could or ought to be 
exceeded in fidelity between two brothers, I approach its preparation, and after 
I have laid down the experiences of the first age, I wish to add my own inven- 
tions ; to which at last the Age of Grace will by-and-by give its adhesion, 
whichever of the patriarchs, O Sophist, you, in the meantime, shall have 
made leaders. 

CHAPTER ML 

Concerning the Process of the Ancients for the Tincture of 
THE Philosophers, and a more compendious Method by Paracelsus. 

The old Spagyrists putrefied Lili for a philosophical month, and afterwards 
distilled therefrom the moist spirits, until at length the dry spirits were 
elevated. They again imbued the capui motiuum with moist spirits, and drew 
them off from it frequently by distillation until the dry spirits were all elevated. 
Then afterguards they united the moisture that had been drawn off and the 
dry spirits by means of a pelican, three or four times, until the whole Lili 
remained dry at the bottom. Although early experience gave this process 
before fixation, none the less our ancestors often attained a perfect realisation 
of their wish by this method. They would, however, have had a shorter way 
of arriving at the treasure of the Red Lion if they had learnt the agreement of 
Astronomy with Alchemy, as I have demonstrated it in the Apocalypse of 
Hermes,* But since every day (as Christ says for the consolation of the 



* The Book of the Revelation of Hcniie&, intcrpretixt Ly Tlieuphrjuius PjuraceLu^, concerning the Supreme 
Secret of the World, Mems to have been first brought to light by Beticdktus Figulu*, and appeared as a ^i*t§ d* 
vitiiUHfg \i% liU *' Golden and Blessed Ci*kcE of Nature's Marvtls," of which an English transtation hoi been very 
recently publUhed. C** A Golden and Blisscd Casket of Nature's Manreb," By liened ictus FiguUi^ Now first 
dome into English from the German original published at Frankfort in tbe year i(o8> London : James Elliott and 
Cck 8vo. 1893.) Among the many writings which have been fabulously attributed to Henjio» there does not seem to be 
any reconl of an A^tdypsty and it U impossible to say what forged document may have been the subject of inter ^ 
prctation by Paracelsus. As the collection of Figulus is now so readily accessible, it isiomcwhat superfluous to re* 
produce the Lreattse here, but since this tran»lAiion clatacs to include c^-crj^thing written by the ph>'wcian of Hohenlicim 
on the subject of Alchemy aiid the Universal Medicine, it is appended at tbis point. It shouJd be premised that 
Benediclus* Ftgului complains bitterly of the mutilation and pervcruon (o which the works of Puracelsus were subjected, 
and the Rrvilatxan cf Htrmn seems in many parts to betray anoclier hatid| especially in its quotation of autboritic* 
who are not countenanced by its reputed auibor. 

Hermes, Plato, Anstotlc, and other philo»opHer«, flourishing at different times, who have Lotroduoed the Arts^ and 
Bkore especially hav<« explored the secrtfts of inferior Creation^ ail theskC bavc eagerly sought a roeajis whertby man's 
body might be prescrk'ed from decay and become endued with immortaJity. To them it was answered that there is 
nothing which might deliver the mortal body from death ; but that there is One Thing which may post|)onc decay, renew 
youth, and prolong short human life (as with the patriarcbsX For death was Udd as a punishment upon our first parents, 
Adam and Eve^ and wLU never deport fi-om all Iheir decseodants. Therefore, the above philosophers, and many otheiSi lia\-e 



24 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

faithful) has its own peculiar care, the labour for the Spagyrists before my 
times has been great and heavy ; but this, by the help of the Holy Spirit 
flowing into us, will, in this, last age, be lightened and made clear by my 
theory and practice, for all those who constantly persevere in their work with 
patience. For I have tested the properties of Nature, its essences and con- 
ditions, and I know its conjunction and resolution, which are the highest and 
greatest gift for a philosopher, and never understood by the sophists up to this 
time. When, therefore, the earliest age gave the first experience of the 
Tincture, the Spagyrists made two things out of one simple. But when after- 
wards, in the Middle Age, this invention had died out, their successors by 
diligent scrutiny afterwards came upon the two names of this simple, and 
they named it with one word, namely, Lili, as being the subject of the 
Tincture. At length the imitators of Nature putrefied this matter at its proper 
period just like the seed in the earth, since before this corruption nothing could 
be born from it, nor any arcanum break forth from it. Afterwards they drew 
off the moist spirits from the matter, until at length, by the violence of the 
fire, the dry were also equally sublimated, so that, in this way, just as the rustic 



sought this One Thing with great labour, and have found that that which preserves the human body from corruption, and 
prolongs life, conducts itself, with respect to other elements, as it were like the Heavens ; from which they understood that 
the Heavens are a substance above the Four Elements. And just as the Heavens, with respect to the other elements, are 
held to be the iifth substance (for they are indestructible, stable, and suffer no foreign admixture), so also this One 
Thing (compared to the forces of our body) i§ jaj}_ijidestructible essence, drying up all the superfluities of our bodies, 
and has been philosophically called by the above-mentioned name. It is neither hot and dry like fire, nor cold and 
moist like water, nor warm and moist like air, nor dry and cold like earth. But it is a skilful, perfect equation of all 
the Elements, a right commingling of natural forc^, a most particular union of spiritual virtues, an indissoluble 
uniting of body and souL It is the purest and noblest substance of an indestructible body, which cannot be destro>'ed 
nor harmed by the Elements, and is produced by Art. With this, Aristotle prepared an apple, prolonging life by its 
^scent, when he, fifteen days before his death, could neither eat nor drink on account of old age. This spiritual 
ence, or One Thing, was revealed from above to Adam, and w^as greatly desired by the Holy Fathers ; this also 
Hermes and Aristotle call the Truth without Lies, the most sure of all things certain, the Secret of all Secrets. It is 
the Last and the Highest Thing to be sought under the Heavens, a wondrous closing and finish of philosophical 
work, by which are discovered the dews of Heaven and the fastnesses of Earth. What the mouth of man cannot utter 
is all found in this spirit. As Morienus says : " He who has this has all things, and wants no other aid. For in it are 
all temporal happiness, bodily health, and earthly fortune. It is the spirit of the fifth substance, a Fount of all Joys 
(beneath the rays of the moon), the Supporter of Heaven and Earth, the Mover of Sea and Wind, the Outpourer of 
Rain, upholding the strength of all things, an excellent spirit above Heavenly and other spirits, giving Health, Joy, 
Peace, Love ; driving away Hatred and Sorrow, bringing in Joy, expelling all Evil, quickly healing all Diseases, des- 
troying Poverty and misery, leading to all good things, preventing all evil words and thoughts, giving man his heart's 
desire, bringing to the pious earthly honour and long life, but to the wicked who misuse it, Eternal Punishment." This 
is the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot comprehend without the interposition of the Holy Ghost, or without the 
instruction of those who know it. The same is of a mysterious nature, wondrous strength, boundless power. The 
Saints, from the beginning of the world, have desired to behold its face. By Avicenna this Spirit Ls named the Soul of the 
World. For, as the Soul moves all the limbs of the body, so also does this Spirit move all bodies. And as the Soul is in all 
the limbs of the Body, so also is this Spirit in all elementary created things. It b sought by many and found by fewT 
It is beheld from afar and found near ; for it exists in every thing, in every place, and at all times. It has the powers 
of all creatures ; its action is found in all elements, and the qualities of all things are therein, even in the highest per- 
fection. By virtue of this essence did Adam and the Patriarchs preserve their health and live to an extreme age, some 
of them also flourishing in great riches. WTien the philosophers had discovered it, with great diligence and labour, they 
straightway concealed it under a strange tongue, and in parables, lest the same should become known to the unworthy, 
and the pearls be cast before swine. For if everyone knew it, all work and industry would cease ; man would desire 
nothing but this one thing, people would live wickedly, and the world be ruined, seeing that they would provoke God 
by reason of their avarice and superfluity. For eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath the heart of man understood 
what Heaven hath naturally incorporated with this Spirit. Therefore have I briefly enumerated some of the qualities 
of this Spirit, to the Honour of God, that the pious may reverently praise Him in His gifts (which gift of God shall 
afterwards come to them), and I will herewith shew what powers and virtues it possesses in each thing, also its outward 
appearance, that it may be more readily recognised. In its first state, it appears as an impure earthly body, full of im- 
perfections. It then has an earthly nature, healing all sickness and wounds in the bowels of man, producing good and 
consuming proud flesh, expelling all stench, and healing generally, inwardly and outwardly. In its second nature, it 



The Tincture of the Phiiosopfiers, 



25 



does at the proper time of year, they might come to maturity as one after another 
is wont to ascend and to fall away. Lastly, as after the spring comes summer, 
they incorporated those fruits and dry spirits, and brought the Magistery of 
the Tincture to such a point that it came to the harvest, and laid itself out 
for ripening* 

CHAPTER IV. 
Concerning the Process for the Tincture of the Philosophers^ 

AS IT IS SHORTENED BY PARACELSUS. 

The ancient Spagyrists would not have required such lengthened labour 
and such wearisome repetition if they had learnt and practised their %vork in 
my school- They would have obtained their wish just as well, with far less 
expense and labour. But at this time, when Theophraslus Paracelsus has 
arrived as the Monarch of Arcana, the opportunity is at hand for finding out 
those things which were occuit to all Spagyrists before me. Wherefore 1 
say, Take only the rose-coloured blood from the Lion and the gluten from the 
Eagle* When you have mixed these, coagulate them according to the old 



appeaurs as a watery body, somewhat mare beautiful than berore, because (olihough si ill having its cctrnipMoti^) it^ 
Virttw » greater. Il U much nearer the truth, and mare effective in works. In this fortn it cures cold and hot fevets, 
and i> a specific agauut poisons, which it drives from heart and lung^^ healing the same when injured or wounded^ puri- 
r^-ing the blcxxl, axidt taken three times a day, is of great comfort in all diseases. But in its third nature it appears as 
an aerial body, of an ojly nature, almost freed from all tmperfcciions, in which form it docs nuiny wondrous works, pro* 
dudng beauty and strength of body, and (a small quantity being taken In the food) preventing melancholy and heating 
of the gall, increasing the quantity of the blood and seed, so that frequent bleeding becomes necesaar>'. It expands tlie 
blood ves^sels, cures withered limbs, restores strength to the sight, in growing persons removes what is superDuous and 
makes good defects in the limbs. In its fourth nature it appears in a (tcry form (not quite freed from all imperfection^,, still 
somewhat watery and not dried enough), wherein it haA m;iny virtues, making the old young and reviving thoce at the 
point of death. For if to such an one there be gi%'en, in wine, a barleycorn's weight of thh fire, 50 that it reach the 
stotnach^ it goes to hiN heart, renewing him at once, driving away all previous moisture and poiion, and restoring the 
natural heat of the liver. Given in small dc^es to old people, it removes the diseases of age, giving the old young hearts 
and bodies. Hence it is colled the Elixir of Life. In its fifth and last nature, it appears in a glorified and il]uminat«l 
form, without defects, shining like gold and .silver, wherein it possesses all previous powers and virtues in a higher and 
more wondrotis degree* Here its natural work* are taken for miracles. When applied to the roots of dead trees they 
revive, bringing forth leaves and fruit. A lamp, the oU of whii^h Ls mingl«J with this spirit, continues to burn for ever 
without diminution. It converts crystals into the most precious »to>nes of all colours, equal to those from the mines, and 
does mayn other incredible wonders which may not be revealed to the uTiworthy, For il healsalldcad and living bodiest 
without other medicine. Here Christ is my wilne» that I lie not, for alt heavenly influences are united and combined 
therein, 'thiii essence also reveals all treasure in earth and sea, converts all metidlic bodies into gold, and there is 
nothing like unto tt under Heaven. This spirit b the secret, hiddiett from the beginnitig, yet granted by God to a few 
holy men for the revealing of these riches 10 His Glory— dwelling in fier>' form in the air, and leading earth with iis«lf 
to heaven, while from its body there flow whole rivers of living water. This spirit flies through the mid^t of the 
Heavens like a morning mist, leadbt its burning fire into the water, and has its shining realm in the heaveas. And 
although these writings may be regarded as Gsdse by the reader, yet to the initialed ihey are true and possible, when the 
hidden sense is properly understood. For God is wonderful in Hi* works, and His wisdom U without end. This spirit 
in its Aery form is called a Sandaraca, in the aerial a K.)'brick, in the watery an Afoth, in the earthly Alcohoph and 
Aliocosoph. Hence they are deceived by these names who, seeking without instruction, think to find thb Spirit of Life 
in things foreign to our An. For although this spirit which we seek, on accoutit of its qualities, is called by these 
name*, yet the same is not in these bodies and cannot be in them. For a refioed spirit cannot appear except in a body 
suiuble to its nature. And, by however many name* it be c;tUed, let no one itttagine there be dUTcrcnt spirits, for, say 
what one wilU there is hut one spirit working everywhere and in all things. That is the spirit which, when rising, 
illumines the Heavens, when setting iflCoq>orates the purity of Earth, and when brooding has embraced the Waters, 
This spirit is named Raphael, the Angel of God, the subtlest and purest, whom the others all obey as their King. This 
spiritual substance is neither heavenly nor hellish, but an nir>% pure, and henriy body, midway between the highest and 
lowest, without reason, but fruitful tn works, and the most select and beautiful of all other heavenly things. This ts-ork 
of God is far too deep for understanditig, for it is the last, greatest, and highest secret of Nature. It is the Spirit of 
God, which in the Beginning filled the earth and brooded over the waters, which the world cannot grasp without the 
gracious interposition of the Holy Spirit and instruction from those who know it, which also the whole world desires for 
ila virtue, and which caiuiot be pmed enough. For 11 reaches to th« planets, raises the clouds, drives away mists, gives 



26 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

process, and you will have the Tincture of the Philosophers, which an infinite 
number have sought after and very few have found. Whether you will or not» 
sophist^ this Magfister>^ is in Nature itself, a wonderful thing of God above 
Nature, and a most precious treasure In this Valley of Sorrows. If you look 
at it from without it seems a paltry thing to transmute another into something 
far more noble than it was before. But you must, nevertheless, allow thisi 
and confess that it is a miracle produced by the Spagyrist, who by the art of 
his preparation corrupts a visible body which is externally vile, from which he 
excites another most noble and most precious essence. If you, in like 
manner^ have learnt anything from the light of Aristotle, or from us, or from 
the rules of Serapio, come forth, and bring that knowledge experimentaily to 
light. Preserve now the right of the Schools, as becomes a lover of honour 
and a doctor. But if you know nothing and can do nothing, why do you 
despise me as though I were an irTational Helvetian cow^ and inveigh against 
me as a wandering vagabond ? Art is a second Nature and a universe of its 
own, as experience witnesses, and demonstrates against you and your idols* 
Sometimes, therefore, the Alchemist compounds certain simples, which he 



it* lij^hl lo all thij:i|^!^, lurns everything inta Sun and Moon, besiowis. all health liinJ xibtindance of treasure, cleatii» the 
leper, brightens the eyes, banishes sorrow^ heals the sickt reveaU all hidden treasures, and, generally, cures all diseases. 
Througli this spirit have the phifosophers invented tlie Seven Liberal Arts, and thereby gained llieir riches. Through 
the same Mo5» niade the golden vessels in the Ark, and Kiag Solomon did many beautiful works to the honour of God. 
Therewith ^^oscJ^ built the Tabernacle, Noah the Ark^ Solomon the Temple, By this Eatm restored the Law, and 
Mii-iain» Moses' ^ister^ was hospitable ; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobs and other righteous men, have had lifelong abund- 
ance and riches ; and all the saints possessing it have therewith praised God. Therefore is its acquisition very hard, 
more than that of gold and silver. For it h, the best of atl thing^s, because, of all things mortal that man can desire in 
this world, nothing can compare with ii, and in it alone is truth. Hence it ia called the Stone and Spirit of Truth ; in its 
works is no vanity, its praise cannot be sufficiently eirpressed. I am unable to speak enough of its virtues, because its good 
qoaJities and powers are beyond human thoughts, unutterable by the tongue of man, and in il are found the properties 
ofaltChiDgK. Yea, there is iK^thing deeper in Nature. O unfathomable »hyss of God's Wisdom, which thus hath 
united and cocnprt^ed in the virtue and power of thh One Spirit the qualities of all existing bodies 1 O umpeakable 
honour and boundle&s joy granted to mortal man E For the destructible thing;^ of Natiu-e are restored by virtue of the 
said Spirit. O m>'^ter>' of m^'steries, roost secret of all secret things, and healing and medicine of all thieigs t Thou 
last discover)" in earthly natures, last best gift to Patriarchs and Sages, greatly desired by the whole world ! Oh^ what 
a wondrous and laudable spirit is purity, in which stand all joy, riches, ft-uitfulne«ii; of life^ and art of all arts, a power 
which to ltd initiates grants all material joysl O desirable knowledge, to>'ely above all things beneath the circle of the 
Moon, by which Nature U strengthened^ and heart and limbs are renewed, blooming youth is preserved, old age driven 
away, weakness destroyed, beauty in its perfection preserved, and abuDdatlce enstired in all things pleasing to men 1 O 
thou 5ipirituai substance, lovely above all things I O thou wondrous power, strengthening all the world ! O thou 
tnviticible virtue, highest of all that i*, although despised by the ignorant, j-et held by the wise in great praiw:, honour, 
and glory, that -proceeding from hiunours — wakest the dead, expellest diseases, restorest the voice of the dying] O 
thou treasure of treasures, mystery of mysteries, called by Aviccnna "an unspeakable substance," the purest and most 
perfect soul of the worlds (ban which therie b nothing mofe costly under Heaven^ utifathoinable in itature and power, 
wonderful in virtue and works, having no eqtial ftmong creatures, po.s>iessing the virtues of all bodies under Heaven 1 
For from it flow the w.ater of life, the oil and honey of eternal heating, and thus hath it nouriiihed them with honey and 
water from the rock. Therefore, saith Morienus : '* l^le who hath it, the same also hath all tbitigs." Blessed artThoii, 
Ix>rd God of our fathers, in that Thou ha:»t given the prophets this knowledge and underslajiding, that they have 
hidden these things (lest ihcy should b« discovered by the blind, and those drowned in worldly godlessness) by which 
the wise and the pious have praised Thee 1 For the discoverers of the raysierv of this thing to the unworthy are breakers 
of the seal of Heavenly Revelation, thereby offending Gods Majesty, and bringing upon (liemsclvt^ many misrortunes 
and the punishmei^ts of God. Therefore, t beg all Ou-istians, possessing this knowledge, to communicate the satiM to 
nobody, except it be lo one living in Godliness, of wen-proved virtue, and praising Cod, VtTho has given »uch a treasure 
to man. For many seek, but few find it. Hence the impute and those living in vice are unworthy of it. Therefore is 
this Art to be shewn to all Gnd-fearing persons, because it cannot be bought with a price* 1 testify before Cod that I 
lie dot, although ti appear impossible to fools, that no one has hitherto explored Nature so deeply. The Almighty 
be praised for having created this Art and for revealing it to Cod-fearing men. Amen. And thus is fulfilled this 
precious and excellent work, called the revealing of the occult spirit, in which lie hidden the secrets and mysteries o^ 
the world. But this spirit is one getiius, and divine, wonderful, and lordly power. For it embraces the whole world| 
and overcomes the Elements and the fifth Substance. To our Trismegistus Spogyms, Jesus Christ, be pimse and glory 
immortaL Amen. 




The Tincture of tfie Philosophers, 



27 



afterwards corrupts according to his need^ and prepares thence another thing. 
For thus very often out of many things one is made, which effects more than 
Nature of herself can do» as in Gastaynum it is perfectly well known that Venus 
IS produced from Saturn ; in Carinthia, Luna out of Venus ; and in Hungary, 
So! out of Luna ; to pass over in silence for the time being the transmutations 
of other natural objects, which were well known to the Magi, and more 
wonderfully than Ovid narrates in his Metamorphoses do they come to the 
light. That you may rightly uodcrsland me, seek your Lion in the East, and 
your Eagle in the South, for this our work which has been undertaken. You 
will not find better instruments than Hungary and I stria produce. But if 
you desire to lead from unity by duality in trinity with equal permutation of 
each, then you should direct your journey to the South ; so in Cyprus shall you 
gain all your desire, concerning which we must not dilate more profusely than 
we have done at present. There are still many more of these arcana which 
exhibit transmutations, though they are known to few. And although these 
may by the Lord God be made manifest to anyone, still, the rumour of this 
Art does not on that account at once break forth, but the Almighty gives 
therewith the understanding how to conceal these and other like arts even to 
the coming of Elias the Artist, at which time there shall be nothing so occult 
that it shall not be revealed. You also see with your eyes (though there is no 
need to speak of these things, which may be taken derisively by some) that in 
the fire of Sulphur is a great tincture for gems, which, indeed, exalts them to 
a loftier degree than Nature by herself could do. But this gradation of metals 
and gems shall be omitted by me in this place, since I have written sufllciently 
about it in my Secret of Secrets, in my book on the Vexations of Alchemists, 
and abundantly elsewhere. As I have begun the process of our ancestors 
with the Tincture of the Philosophers, I will now perfectly conclude it» 



CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the Conclusion of the Process of the Ancients, 
MADE BY Paracelsus. 

Lastly^ the ancient Spagyrists having placed Lili in a pelican and dried it, 

fixed it by means of a regulated increase of the fire, continued so long until 
from blackness, by permutation into all the colours, it became red as blood, 
and therewith assumed the condition of a salamander. Rightly, indeed, did 
they proceed with such labour, and in the same way it is right and becoming 
that everyone should proceed who seeks this pearl. It will be very difficult for 
me to make this clearer to you unless you shall have learnt in the School of 
the Alchemists to observe the degrees of the fire, and also to change your 
vessels. For then at length you will see that soon after your Lili shall have 
become healed in the Philosophic Egg, it becomes, with wonderful appearances, 
blacker than the crow ; afterw^ards, in succession of time, whiter than the 
swan ; and at last, passing through a yellow colour^ it turns out more red than 



28 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

any blood. Seek, seek, says the first Spagyrist, and you shall find ; knock, 
and it shall be opened unto you. It would be impious and indecorous to put 
food in the mouth of a perfidious bird. Let her rather fly to it, even as I, with 
others before me, have been compelled to do. But follow true Art ; for this 
will lead you to its perfect knowledge. It is not possible that anything should 
here be set down more fully or more clearly than I have before spoken. Let 
your Pharisaical schools teach you what they will from their unstable and slip- 
pery foundation, which reaches not its end or its aim. When at length you 
shall have been taught as accurately as possible the Alchemistic Art, nothing 
in the nature of things shall then at length be so difficult which cannot be 
made manifest to you by the aid of this Art. Nature, indeed, herself does not 
bring forth anything into the light which is advanced to its highest perfection, 
as can be seen in this place from the unity, or the union, of our duality. But 
a man ought by Spagyric preparations to lead it thither where it was ordained 
by Nature. Let this have been sufficiently said by me, concerning the process 
of the ancients and my correction of the Tincture of the Philosophers, so far as 
relates to its preparation. 

Moreover, since now we have that treasure of the Egyptians in our hands, 
it remains that we turn it to our use : and this is offered to us by the Spagyric 
Magistery in two ways. According to the former mode it can be applied for 
the renewing of the body ; according to the latter it is to be used for the trans- 
mutation of metals. Since, then, I, Theophrastus Paracelsus, have tried each 
of them in different ways, I am willing to put them forward and to describe 
them according to the signs indeed of the work, and as in experience and 
proof they appeared to me better and more perfectly. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Concerning the Transmutation of Metals by the 
Perfection of Medicine. 

If the Tincture of the Philosophers is to be used for transmutation, a pound 
of it must be projected on a thousand pounds of melted Sol. Then, at length, 
will a Medicine have been prepared for transmuting the leprous moisture of 
the metals. This work is a wonderful one in the light of Nature, namely, that 
by the Magistery, or the operation of the Spag^rist, a metal, which formerly 
existed, should perish, and another be produced. This fact has rendered that 
same Aristotle, with his ill-founded philosophy, fatuous. For truly, when 
the rustics in Hungary cast iron at the proper season into a certain fountain, 
commonly called Zifferbrunnen, it is consumed into rust, and when this is 
liquefied with a blast-fire, it soon exists as pure Venus, and never more 
returns to iron. Similarly, in the mountain commonly called Kuttenberg, 
they obtain a lixivium out of marcasites, in which iron is forthwith turned 
into Venus of a high grade, and more malleable than the other produced by 
Nature. These things, and more like them, are known to simple men rather 



Tfie Tincture of the Philosophers, 



29 



than to sophists, namely, those which turn one appearance of a metal into 
another. And these thing's, moreover, throug-h the remarkable contempt 
of the ignorant, and partly, too» on account of the just envy of the artificers, 
remain almost hidden. But I myself, in Istria, have often broug-ht Venus 
to more than twenty-four (al. 38) degfrees, so that the colour of Sol could 
not mount higher, consisting- of Antimony or -er Quartal, which Venus I used 
in ail respects as other kinds. 

But though the old artists were very desirous of this arcanum, and sought 
it with the greatest diligence, nevertheless, very few could bring it by means 
of a perfect preparation to its end. For the transmutation of an inferior metal 
into a superior on^ brings with it many difficulties and obstacles, as the 
change of Jove into Luna, or Venus into Sol. Perhaps on account of their 
sins God willed that the Magnalia of Nature should be hidden from many men. 
For sometimes* when this Tincture has been prepared by artists, and they were 
not able to reduce their projection to work its effects, it happened that, by 
their carelessness and bad guardianship, this was eaten up by fowls, whose 
feathers thereupon fell off, and, as I myself have seen, grew again. In this 
way transmutation, through its abuse from the carelessness of the artists, 
came into Medicine and Alchemy. For when they were unable to use the 
Tincture according to their desire, they converted the same to the renovation of 
men, as shall be heard more at large in the following chapter. 



CHAPTER VIL 
Concerning the Renovation of Men. 

Some of the first and primitive philosophers of Egypt have lived by 
means of this Tincture for a hundred and fifty years. The life of many, too, 
has been extended and prolonged to several centuries, as is most clearly 
shewn in different histories, though it seems scarcely credible to any one. 
For its power is so remarkable that it extends the life of the body beyond 
what is possible to its congenital nature, and keeps it so firmly in that con- 
dition that it lives on in safety from all infirmities. And although, indeed, 
the body at length comes to old age, nevertheless, it still appears as though it 
were established m its primal youth. 

So, then, the Tincture of the Philosophers is a Universal Medicine, and 
consumes all diseases, by whatsoever name they are called, just like an 
invisible fire. The dose is ver>^ small, but its effect is most powerful. By 
means thereof I have cured the leprosy, venereal disease, dropsy, the falling 
sickness, colic, scab, and similar afflictions ; also lupus, cancer, noli-me- 
tangere, fistulas, and the whole race of internal diseases, more surely than 
one could believe. Of this fact Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Bohemia, 
etc*, will afford the most ample evidence. 

Now, Sophist, look at Theophrastus Paracelsus. How can your Apollo, 
Machaon, and Hippocrates stand against me ? This is the Catholicum of the 



30 Ttie Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Philosophers, by which all these philosophers have attained long life for 
resisting diseases, and they have attained this end entirely and most 
effectually, and so, according to their judgment, they named it The Tincture 
of the Philosophers. For what can there be in the whole range of medicine 
greater than such purgation of the body, by means whereof all superfluity is 
radically removed from it and transmuted ? For when the seed is once made 
sound all else is perfected. What avails the ill-founded purgation of the 
sophists since it removes nothing as it ought ? This, therefore, is the most 
excellent foundation of a true physician, the regeneration of the nature, and 
the restoration of youth. After this, the new essence itself drives out all that 
is opposed to it. To effect this regeneration, the powers and virtues of the 
Tincture of the Philosophers were miraculously discovered, and up to this 
time have been used in secret and kept concealed by true Spagyrists. 



Here ends the Book concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers. 



THE GRADATIONS OF METALa 



PREFACE. 

WE now purpose to speak concerning gradations,* and those of such a 
kind that a metal dissolved or digested in them can be promoted to 
the degree of Sol and transmuted. Many persons endeavour to 
transmute the lesser metals into silver, and others, of a mediocre nature. Into 
gold, with some difference, however, in their conjunction, so that in a 
cineritlum, by transmutation of graduation » the lesser metals may be brought 
to the perfection of the greater ones — a perfection which answers any suitable 
tests. We will sel down, then, in this place, fourteen gradations. Many 
others may be found, but these we willingly forget, and have collected those 
only w^hich arc established by experience, and are worth writing about. 
These we arrange with a triple differentiation. Some are strong waters, 
others are oils, and the rest liquids. These we arrange in a like order, as is 
clear from our method of treating them. That is to say, we put, first of all, 
strong waters, secondly oils, and lastly liquids. 

The First Gradation, 

Take of Vitriol, Alum, and Salt Nitre, two pounds each ; of Flos Aeris^ 
Crocus of Mars, and H^ematitis, a quarter of a pound each ; of Cinnabar, a 
pound and a half; of Antimony,! three-eighths of a pound ; of Arsenic, one- 
eighth of a pound. 

Let all be distilled with a very strong lire into strong water, which purify 
and clarify after the method of such waters, and dissolve therein cemented 
Luna^ or Part with Part, Luna and Venus ; then put it in digestion for a 
monthp Afterwards take out the residuum by fulmination, and thus you will 



• The term gmdatioti is uoed by ParaccJ-vus in more than one sense ; here it b ihe proccs* by i^rKich one «tit>stanc< h 
developed into another* Care must be taken lo distln^imh between iMs ami the grades of metak, etc. Thui, in gold 
there are said to be twenty-fotir grades ; in silver thirty-two grades of sofincss ; in iron farty-«x grades of bardneaa * in 
lead eighteen degrees of fluxibility ; tweh-e ofmalleation iti copper ; in Mercury eighty^three pfoperttca or branches. • 
CAirttr^ia A finery Lik III. Preface. 

t Frotn the time of Ba&il Valentine, Antimony played alnuvt as important a part in the operatiofis of Alchemy as it 
performed in Medtdne, It is variouiUy described by Paracelsus. Sometimes the term h made to include all marcaAttes, 
cacbiroigj taka, ogerta, eic—Df MmHs Mttalikis, Tract ItL, c. > Again, Antim^wy ta a mucibge, or, that you 
may ondentand me the better, fimLiium. --/^i/, c f* It tran&mtite!* Saturn into Venu««— i>r Aridum. It receives 
its body from Mercur>', and is the mcxt gross nature of Mercury* after it bas been purged out (tltat i*, expelled from the 
prime prlncipleX it retains all the powen and virtues of Mercury. Of all products coming fonh out of the three 
firtt principles, there b none which retains the virtue of Mfcrcury more patently than Antimony. It t» nothinig but 
Mercury coagulated through the Spirit of Sail and Sulphiu-. Uut, at the same lime, understand thai it is derived horn 
thft pDtt and rough, not from the subtle nature of the said Mercury, —i?^ EitmuitU A flue. Tract V., c $. 



32 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

find it transmuted. Let that which is still in the aquafortis be precipitated 
and fulminated as above, and thus the remainder of the silver can be obtained. 
Care should be taken that the aforesaid simples be prepared and separated, 
first of all, in purgation, because any impurity hinders this work of 
transmutation verj' seriously. 

The Second Gradation. 

In this second gradation it is worth while to note carefully another 
process, it being one which can be adopted with greater gain and subtlety, as 
follows : Take of Saltpetre and of Cinnabar each one pound. Let them be 
pounded together, and the water distilled from them ; which water preserve. 
Do the same with an equal weight of Antimony and Arsenic. Mix together 
the three waters, and add of Salt Nitre, Alum, and Vitriol each one pound. 
Distil all again, after the manner of Aquafortis. Afterwards pour this on its 
Caput Moiiuuw^ which has been finely powdered. Again distil it to its ultimate 
spirit, and clarify it, just as any other aquafortis. In the case of all metals 
which have been dissolved in it, and have remained in digestion until perfect, 
its powers of operation are incredibly great. In very truth, there are latent in 
a composition with these ingredients all the forces of those metals which have 
in themselves a corporeal matter. For three of such distillations tinge so 
powerfully, by the force of the water, that scarcely any greater or more 
powerful means of working with strong waters could be found. 

The Third Gradation. 

The third gradation, which is reckoned as last among the strong waters, 
is to be understood and compounded as follows : — ^Take of Cinnabar, Arsenic, 
and Antimony, each half a pound, of Saltpetre two pounds, and of Sulphur 
half a pound. Let these be pounded together, mixed, and distilled to strong 
water with a very powerful fire. Afterwards take two parts of this water, of 
Common Alum and Alumen Plumosum each a part and a half, of Vitriol one 
part, of Verdigris and Crocus of Mars each half a part. Let all these be distilled 
together into a strong water with a very violent fire. At length, for the 
whole of this water, take two parts of the Caput Mortuum ; and of Antimony, 
Verdigris, Cinnabar, and Sulphur, half a part each. Distil these from their 
dregs by strongly driving them into a receiver. Afterwards, in this water, 
when it has been clarified, dissolve half a part with ten parts of flowers of 
brass and crocus of Mars, and let it be digested therein. You will afterwards 
find more of the residuum transmuted to Sol than you would deem possible to 
the Art. 

The Fourth Gradation. 

Let us now speak about gradations made with oils, which do not dissolve 
after the mode and form of strong waters, but in digestion, and thus 
accomplish their perfection. The first gradation of this kind is made with Oil 
of Antimony, in which is latent a wonderful tincture of redness. Let the 



The Gradatwns of Metals, 



33 



following be the process adopted : —Take of Antimony one pound, and of 
sublimated Mercury half a pound. Let them both be distilled tog^ether over a 
powerful fire by means of an alembic, and the redness will ascend as thick 
as blood. This tinges and graduates all Luna into Sol^ and brings the latter 
when pale to the highest degree of permanent colour. 

The Fifth Gradation, 

The fifth gradation, whereof the oil Is reckoned second in order, is made in 

the manner which follows : — Take of the Oil of the Philosophers one pound, 
with which mix half a pound respectively of Calcined Alum and of Citrine 
Colcothan Distil a second time, and afterwards rectify to purity and a 
constant colour. Put in Luna, and let it remain in digestion. Reduce what 
remains, separate it in aquafortis, and, lastly, fulminate by means of Saturn. 

The Sixth Gradation. 

The sixth gradation, third in order among the oils, is made In the 
following way ; — Take of Live Sulphur* two pounds, and of Flax Oil (linseed 
oil) four pounds. Let these be formed into a compound, and this be distilled 
into an oil. To this let there he added the same quantity of Live Sulphur, 
and let it be treated just as it was for the compound. Let it be digested in 
horse-dung for a month» or if longer, so much the better* After this let there 
be added one-eighth of a pound of each of the follow^ing : Salt Nitre, Vitriol, 
Alum, Flos Aeris, Crocus of Mars, and Cinnabar. Distil whatever will 
ascend. Remove the liquids, keeping only the oils. Put these apart in a 
glass cucurbite, adding the species as above, and the Caput Mortuum in 
powder. Distil again as before. Afterwards pour it off again from the dregs, 
let it be putrefied a second time for a month, and further distilled. When the 
colours are gone or separated^ keep the red, and rectify it as required. Lastly, 
let plates of Luna be digested at the proper time, and at length reduced by a 
process of fulmination. 

The SE\TiNTH Gradation. 

Gradations which are produced by liquids are found in two different forms, 
namely, the tenacious and the watei^\ First let us speak concerning the 
tenacious. Take one pound of Honey, and in it decoct one-quarter of a pound 
each of Vitriol and of Alum with an eighth of a pound of lamen. Distil the 
water from these over a strong fire, and add thereto one-eighth of a pound each 
of the Caput Morhmm from a human cranium, and half a pound of Sulphur. 
Decoct into the form of a hepar and digest for a month ; thendisti! and rectify 
with water until pure. Afterwards add one-eighth of a pound each of Sal 
Ammoniac, Flos Aens, Crocus of Mars, and Alum; a quarter of a pound of 
Vitriol, and two ounces each of fixed Antimony and fixed Red Arsenic. Pound 



• Live Sulphur t» that of which I 
Dg PrtrpAP^ihtiihtu^ lib. 1., Tract 9. 



nu or pMiiclai wUt cohere without il being iji 4 ili«$Qlv«d or fluid state.- 

D 



34 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 



these together, put into water, and let them stand in heat for ten days. After- 
wards let the liquid be separated from the dregs. Purify and project into the 
mixture metallic plates ; then let them remain in moderate digestion until 
perfect. Lastly, let the matter be burnt* separated, and fulminated. 

The Eighth Gradation, 

The gradation by the second liquid is as follows : 

Take a sufficient quantity of aquafortis. In one part thereof dissolve 
Sol, in another part Venus, in another part Mars. Mix these solutions 
together, and afterwards distil the water from them. Pour this again on its 
dregs, ancl once more distil and pour as before, until a thick liquid is produced 
therefrom. To this add five parts of distilled and prepared Honey. Let all 
be digested for a month, and afterwards separate the phlcgma. Keep the 
liquid, and in it let projected metallic plates be digested for a month. Lastly, 
let it be coagulated into a mass» and into one distinct body. Let this be sub- 
jected to a process of fulmination and quartation. Fulminate a second time, 
and thus will be found an excellent transmutation by means of liquid, 

Thb Ninth Gradation, 

By the third liquid the ninth gradation is made in the following manner i 
Take aquafortis, in which dissolve Verdigris, and let both be kept together 
in horse dung for the space of a month. Now distil the water from the dregs, 
pour it on again, distil and pour it over several times, until an oil is produced 
from it. Into that liquid put metallic filings, and in the course of its being 
digested you will find a transmutation. Although the liquid may be small in 
quantity, nevertheless it graduates most effectually, and affects the very 
largest amount of metal in proportion to its own quantity. 

The Tenth Gradation; 

In the following manner the fourth liquid is to be understood : 
Take the best Aquafortis » and in it dissolve as much Steel as possible. 
Let these remain in digestion for a month, and from them will be formed a 
compound ot one colour. Let this compound also be distilled into a liquid, 
in which metallic filings must remain in digestion until the liquid is incorpor^ 
ated. Then let both be fulminated together— that Is to say, the liquid and the 
metal — by means of Saturn. Then will be found this transmutation, which 
must be separated and prepared in the usual way. 

The Eleventh Gradation. 

The eleventh gradation is made by the first aqueous liquid according to 
the formula subjoined : 

Take four pounds of the most highly purified Saltpetre, and repurge this 
from its phlegma by combustion. Add two pounds of Common Salt duly 
prepared. Mix these together, and distil with an alembic six or nine times, 
until the Salts altogether pass over through the alembic into the receiver 



\ 



The Gradations of Metals, 



35 



placed ready for the purpose. Then take two pounds of this Water ; two 
ounces each of Flowers of Antimony, Flos Aens» Flos Martis, and Flower of 

Sulphur, with two ounces and a half respectively of Sal Ammoniac and of Alum. 
Mix all these together, and let them remain In digestion for four and twenty 
days. After this let them be separated in the purest water. Afterwards let 
Luna and the metals be graduated by digestion, fulminated by Saturn, 
separated by quartification, and fulminated a second time. 

Twelfth Gradation. 

By means of the second aqueous liquid the twelfth gradation is produced 
in the following manner : 

Take three pounds of the most highly corrected Vinum Ardens; one 
pound of the Water of Saltpetre ; half a pound of the Water of Common Salt ; 
and three quarters of a pound respectively of Vitriol ^ Alumen Plumosum, and 
A!umen Aochi. Let these be combined to form a mixture, and distil this six 
times from the Caput Mortimm. \\\ this water let metals be digested, when 
they will be fixed and transmuted* as we have said above concerning 
the others. 

The Thirteenth Gradation. 

By the third aqueous liquid the thirteenth gradation is produced in the 
following manner : 

Take one pound of Isteris of Blood. Distil it thirteen times from its 
dregs, and place in it two ounces each of Flos Aeris and of Sulphur. Let them 
be dissolved in horse-dung for a month. Afterwards put in Calx Lunae, so that 
the colour and substance may be consumed. Afterwards !et them be coagu* 
lated and fulminated in Saturn. Know^ that in this liquid common Mercur}\ 
as w^ell as that of metals, is coagulated according to the conditions of 
Transmutation. 

The Fourteenth Gradation. 

The fourth liquid in this place is the Water of Mercury, which is made for 
the fourteenth gradation as follows below : 

Take one pound of Mercury sublimated twenty times with Sal Ammoniac, 
and one ounce respectively of the Flowers of Venus, Mars, Sulphur, and 
Antimony. Grind and mix all together, and then iet them be resolved into a 
water. This water requires no other labour whatever, Metals projected into 
it, digested for a short time, and afterwards fulminated, are graduated in a 
wonderful manner. 



Here ends the Book of Gradations. 



THE TREASURE OF TREASURES FOR ALCHEMISTS. 
By Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, Paracelsus the Great 



NATURE begets a mineral in the bowels of the earth. There are two 
kinds of it, which are found in many districts of Europe. The best 
which has been offered to me, which also has "been found genuine 
in experimentation, is externally in the figure of the greater world, and is in 
the eastern part of the sphere of the Sun. The other, in the Southern 
Star, is now in its first efflorescence. The bowels of the earth thrust this 
forth through its surface. It is found red in its first coagulation, and in it 
lie hid all the flowers and colours of the minerals. Much has been written 
about it by the philosophers, for it is of a cold and moist nature, and agrees 
with the element of water. 

So far as relates to the knowledge of it and experiment with it, all the 
philosophers before me, though they have aimed at it with their missiles, have 
gone very wide of the mark. They believed that Mercury and Sulphur were 
the mother of all metals, never even dreaming of making mention meanwhile 
of a third ; and yet when the water is separated from it by Spagyric Art the 
truth is plainly revealed, though it was unknown to Galen or to Avicenna. 
But if, for the sake of our excellent physicians, we had to describe only the 
name, the composition, the dissolution, and coagulation, as in the beginning 
of the world Nature proceeds with all growing things, a whole year would 
scarcely suffice me, and, in order to explain these things, not even the skins of 
numerous cows would be adequate. 

Now, I assert that in this mineral are found three principles, which are 
Mercury, Sulphur, and the Mineral Water which has served to naturally 
coagulate it. Spagyric science is able to extract this last from its proper juice 
when it is not altogether matured, in the middle of the autumn, just like a 
pear from a tree. The tree potentially contains the pear. If the Celestial 
Stars and Nature agree, the tree first of all puts forth shoots in the month of 
March ; then it thrusts out buds, and when these open the flower appears, 
and so on in due order, until in autumn the pear grows ripe. So is it with the 
minerals. These are born, in like manner, in the bowels of the earth. Let 
the Alchemists who are seeking the Treasure of Treasures carefully note this. 
I will shew them the way, its beginning, its middle, and its end. In the 



The Treasure of Treasures. 



37 



following treatise I will describe the proper Water, the proper Sulphur, and 
the proper Balm thereof. By means of these three the resolution and com- 
position are coag-ulated Into one. 

Concerning the Sulphur of Cinnabar. 

Take mineral Cinnabar and prepare It in the following manner* Cook it 
with rain water in a stone vessel for three hours. Then purify it carefully, 
and dissolve it in Aqua Regis» which is composed of equal parts of vitriol, 
nitre, and sal ammoniac. Another formula is vitriol, saltpetre^ alum, and 
common salt. 

Distil this in an alembic. Pour it on again » and separate carefully the 
pure from the impure thus» Let it putrefy for a month in horse-dung ; then 
separate the elements in the following manner. If It puts forth its sign,^ 
commence the distillation by means of an alembic with a fire of the first 
degree. The water and the air will ascend ; the fire and the earth will remain 
at the bottom. Afterwards join them again, and gradually treat with the 
ashes. So the water and the air will again ascend first, and afterwards the 
element of fire, which expert artists recognise. The earth will remain in the 
bottom of the vessel. This collect there. It is what many seek after and 
few find. 

This dead earth in the reverberator)^ you will prepare according to the 
rules of Art, and afterwards add fire of the first degree for fiv^e days and 
nights. When these have elapsed you must apply the second degree for the 
same number of days and nights, and proceed according to Art with the 
material enclosed. At length you will find a volatile salt, like a thin alkali, 
containing in itself the Astrum of fire and earth, t Mix this with the two 
elements that have been preserved, the water and the earth. Again place it 
on the ashes for eight days and eight nights, and you will find that which has 
been neglected by miuiy Artists, Separate this according to your expenence, 
and according to the rules of the Spagyric Art, and you will have a white earth, 
from which its colour has been extracted, join the element of fire and salt to 
the alkalised earth. Digest in a pelican to extract the essence. Then a new 
earth will be deposited, which put aside. 

Concerning the Red Lion, 

Afterwards take the lion in the pelican which also is found [at J first, w^hen 
you see its tincture, that is to say, the element of fire which stands above the 
water, the air, and the earth. Separate it from its deposit by trituration. 



• The Sign b nothing else Uutn tlie mark left by an operation. The house consirucled by the architect Ia tbe «ign 
of hts hatulicrart, nrherehy hb skill and art arc tleterminecL Thus the dgn is th« achievement ituclf.— iV C^iua. 

t The earth alw ha» it* Astrum, It* courier tt» order^ ju^t aA muclj as the Firtnament, but peculiar to the element, 
So ako there \s> an Aiitrum in the water, even as in the earth, and in like nuinncr w^irh air and fire. Consequently, llwt 
itpper Aitrtim has the As.tra of the elements for it^ medium, and operates through them, by an irresiittble attraction. 
Throug;h this operation of the i^uperioir and Inferior Astra, all things are fecundated, and led on to their txA.^ Exf^iicAti^ 
Tfitim Ai/wvM^mjW. Without the Astra the elements cannot Aouriah. ... In tlje Astrum of the earth all the 
celestial operations thrive- The Astrum itself is hidden, the bodies are manifest. , . , The motion of the earth 
ia brought about by the Astrum of the earth. . . . There arc fotir Astra in man (oorrespotulijiK to those ci the four 
elcmentsX ^°^ ^^ ts the lesser world. -Dt Caducts, Par. II. 



38 The Hermetic and Akhemkal Writings of Paracehus. 

Thus you will have the true aurum poiabile.^ Sweeten this with the alcohot 
of wine poured over it, and then distil in an alembic until you perceive no 
acidity to remain in the Aqua Regfia, 

This Oil of the Sun, enclosed in a retort hermetically sealed, you must place 
for elevation that it may be exalted and doubled in its degree. Then put the 
vessel, still closely shut, in a cool place. Thus it will not be dissolved, but 
coag'ulated. Place it again for elevation and coagulation, and repeat this three 
times. Thus will be produced the Tincture of the Sun, perfect in its degree. 
Keep this in its own place. 

Concerning the Green Lion. 

Take the vitriol of Venus, t carefully prepared according to the rules of 
Spagyric Art, and add thereto the elements of water and air which you have 
reserved. Resolve^ and set to putrefy for a month according to instructions. 
When the putrefaction is finished, you will behold the sign of the elements. 
Separate, and you w\\\ soon see two colours, namely, white and red. The red 
is above the white. The red tincture of the vitriol is so powerful that it 
reddens all white bodies, and whitens all red ones, which is wonderful. 

Work upon this tincture by means of a retort, and you will perceive a 
blackness issue forth. Treat it again by means of the retort, repeating the 
operation until it comes out whitish. Go on, and do not despair of the w^ork. 
Rectify until you find the true, clear Green Lion, which you will recognise by 
its great weight. You will see that it is heavy and large. This is the 
Tincture, transparent gold. You w^ill see marvellous signs of this Green Lion, 
such as could be bought by no treasures of the Roman Leo. Happy he who 
has learnt how to find it and use it for a tincture I 

This is the true and genuine Balsam, J the Balsam of the Heavenly Stars, 
sufFering no bodies to decay, nor allow^ing leprosy, gout, or dropsy to take 
root. It is given in a dose of one grain, if it has been fermented with Sulphur 
of Gold. 

Ah, Charles the German, where is your treasure? Where are your 
philosophers ? Where your doctors ? Where are your decocters of woods, w^ho 
at least purge and relax ? Is your heaven reversed ? Have your stars 
wandered out of their course, and are they straying in another orbit, away 



* Aurum Fa/tiSt/r, that h, PotiibEe Gold, Oil of Gold^ and QuLntei»sence of Gold, are dktmguUhcd that. Aurum 
Poi ^ih \^ goXd rendered potable by intermixture wiih other sulbtanccs, and wtth liquids. Oil of Gold is an oil ex> 
Lrjurted from the preciotisi metal without the addition of anylhing. The Qdniea^cnce of Gold is the r^ness of gold 
extracted therefrom and separated from the body of the metal.—/)/ Mt-mi^m Ccntntciis^ Tract IL, c a. 

t If copper be pounded and resolved without a corrosive, you have VitrioU From this may be prepared the quiiit* 
CMcncie, otlt and liquor ihtiTtoL^Dt Afot^tJi TA*tatfu^ Cuprine Vitriol is Vitriol cooked with Copper. —JP* j1/<«)M^/# 
Vtrmium^ Par. 6* Chalcanthum is present in Venus, and Venus can by separatton be reduced into Cbalcanthuin.— 
Ckhufgrn Mttgmi. Pars. 11I.» Lib. IV. 

J There U^ indt'ed» diffused through all thlnifs a Bah^in created by God, without which putrefaction would im- 
mediately supervene. Thus, in corpses which arc anointed with Baliam wc see that corruption is arrested, and ihm in 
the phyRicaJ body we infer that there is a certain natural and congenital Balsam^ in the absence of which the living and 
complete man would not be safe from putrefaction. Nothing removes this Balsam but death. But this kind dilTer^ 
from what is more commonly called Balsam, in that the one Is conservative of the living, and the other of the dead.— 
CAiruriria Magna^ Pt* I L^ Tract IL, c. j. The confection of Balsam requires special knowledge of cbeinbiry, and it 
was first discovered by the Alchemists. --/^«/., Ft. L, Tract IL, c, 4. 



The Treasure of Treasuresy 

trom the line of limitation, since your eyes are smitten with blindness, as by 
a carbuncki and other things makings a show of ornament, beauty, and pomp? 
If your artists only knew that their prince Galen —they call none like him— was 
sticking in hell, from whence he has sent letters to me, they would make the 
sig-n of the cross upon themselves with a fox's tail. In the same way your 
Avicenna sits in the vestibule of the infernal portal ; and I have disputed with 
him about his aurum pi^iabUe^ his Tincture of the Philosophers, his Quintessence, 
and Philosophers' Stone, his Mithridatic, his Theriac, and all the rest, O, 
you hypocrites, who despise the truths taught you by a true physician, who is 
himself instructed by Nature, and is a son of God himself! Come, then, and 
listen, impostors who prevail only by the authority of your high positions ! 
After my death, my disciples will burst forth and drag you lo the light, and 
shall expose your dirty drugs, wherewith up to this time you have compassed the 
death of princes, and the most invincible magnates of the Christian world. 
Woe for your necks in the day of judgment ! I know that the monarchy will 
be mine. Mine, too, will be the honour and glory. Not that i praise myself: 
Nature praises me. Of her I am born ; her I follow* She knows me, and I 
know her. The light which is in her 1 have beheld in her; outside, too, I have 
proved the same in the figure of the microcosm, and found it in that universe. 

But I must proceed with my design in order to satisfy my disciples to the 
full extent of their wish. I willingly do this for them, if only skilled in the 
light of Nature and thoroughly practised in astral matters, they finally become 
adepts in philosophy, which enables them to know the nature of every kind of 
water^ 

Take, then, ol this liquid of the minerals which I have described, four 
parts by weight ; of the Earth of red Sol two parts ; of Sulphur of Sol one 
part. Put the^e together into a pelican, congelate, and dissolve them three 
times. Thus you will have the Tincture of the Alchemists. We have not here 
described its weight : but this is given in the book on Transmutations.* 

So, now, he who has one to a thousand ounces of the Asirum Soils shall 
also tinge his own body of SoL 

If you have the Astrum of Mercur)% in the same manner, you will tinge 
the whole body of common Mercury. If you have the Astrum of Venus you 
will, in like manner, tinge the whole body of Venus, and change it into the 
best metal. These facts have all been proved. The same must also be under- 
stood as to the Astra ot the other planets, as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Luna, and 
the rest. For tinctures are also prepared from these : concerning which we 
now make no mention in this place* becattse we have already dwelt at sufficient 
length upon them in the book on the Nature of Things and in the Archidoxies. 
So, too, the first entity of metals and terrestrial minerals have been made 
sufficiently clear tor Alchemists to enable them to get the Alchemists* Tincture, 



• ll i* difficull to tdeiitiry U»e lreau*e t© which refercnc* U laade here. It doe* uot »cc«i to be the twvcniJi hook 
concerning The Nature* of Things^ nor the enduing tract on C*M€**ts, The general qutsktion of lutursJ ikud arlificiA] 
wcl](hl U dUcu»*ed m the A uritfvt ef tht Fktl*n<>/k*rt.. Ko detached wrork on TraounuUlUin* b«* come down lo uft. 



40 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

This work, the Tincture of the Alchemists, need not be one of nine 
months ; but quickly, and without any delay, you may go on by the Spaygric Art 
of the Alchemists, and, in the space of forty days, you can fix this alchemical 
substance, exalt it, putrefy it, ferment it, coagulate it into a stone, and produce 
the Alchemical Phcenix.* But it should be noted well that the Sulphur of 
Cinnabar becomes the Flying Eagle, whose wings fly away without wind, and 
carry the body of the phcenix to the nest of the parent, where it is nourished 
by the element of fire, and the young ones dig out its eyes : from whence there 
emerges a whiteness, divided in its sphere, into a sphere and life out of its own 
heart, by the balsam of its inward parts, according to the property of the 
cabalists. 



* Know that the Phoenix is the soul of the Iliaster (that is, the first chaos of the matter of all things). . . . It is 
also the Iliastic soul in vazxi.— Liber Azoth^ S. V., Praciica Linett Vitte. 



Here ends the Treasure of the Alchemists. 



CONCERNING THE 
TRANSMUTATIONS OF METALS AND OF CEMENTS, 

By THEOPHRASTUS. 



JUST as we have given instructions concerning- other transmutations, in 
the same way also we will fulfil our task with reference to cements. We 

will make mention of six cements, under which, indeed, all the kinds of 
cements will be comprised, with which we shall deal singly in serial order 
according- to the recipes and modes of operation. The consideration has to 
be made general in all respects, so that all the cements may be reduced to one 
mode of fixation and colouring. These two conditions should not be 
separated, but they should always persist and remain together in one 
cineration, coloration, and quartation, just as the properties of true gold are 
conditioned. 

This book on cements does not state how inferior metals are to be trans- 
muted into others, as lead into copper, or iron into copper, etc. But this at 
least it teaches : how metals may be cemented into the chief metal, gold, that 
is, Sol. For cements with other recipes cannot perfectly fulfil their operation for 
transmuting to other metals ; but in these only there is a complete and rapid 
work of transmutation into Sol, which masters all the other metals, not, 
indeed, by quartation, but by colouring and tincture.* And notice should be 
taken what are the bodies which confer their own concordance as though 
belonging to the same species. For there are some bodies which are 
receptive, and others which are not so. Some have first of all to be reduced 



* From all that has coiiw down to us oonoerziing tlve laboitrt and investigations of the old philosopbers, we see 
how indefatigalhle was ihcit scaindi after the bc^t method for prcierving and lengthening Ufc But Itelng thcinHelv«s 
devoid of a perfect instmction in the preparation of medicine*, they did not hesitate lo have recourse to the Alehernists, 
and thus, by the combined labours of both parties, there at. length aroie a genuine science of pliarmaq^, which then, 
by means of various chemicaJ e}tiperLiTvents devoted to medicine, was tnarveUoiti^iy propogatct! And iturreased* But 
that which ihey call the Tincture esccelled all. Vcl, at the same time, ii hati fallen into n certain di^crollt, owing to 
tbe gold-makers, who thought it chiefly useful fcKr the transmutation of metaU. The philo»oplieri of old having 
compounded the Tincture, whereby they transmuted the colours of metals and purged skway their dms^^, a^ might have 
biKn expected, next began to ihinic of making ute of it for the pur|x»c of Medicitic ; and acring thai the floHcr* of the 
metals were endowed with greater virtue^ than the metals themscK'cs, they attempted to uliH;e the»e in the interests 
of the physician. Accoirdtngly, whether from the benignant disposttion of H cavcn or through the rerttlity or their 
minds, those Tinctures were discovered and improved, the eSicacy of which h lx>rnc witness to by ancient tniuiuscript», 
which manuscripts have been suppressed by the crowd of pseudo-medici ; but we do not hesitate to publish them.^ — 
CAimrjIpia Mn^mn, Tract 111,, c. t- 



42 The HimuHc and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

to tbdr flowers; with others this is not necessar)'. In Hke manner, some 
species colour according^ to the red Sol, others according to the clayey Sol ; 
some in flux, some in half cement. In like manner, toO| diligent attention 
should be paid to fire, as being that wherein all cements chiefly lie concealed* 
and wherein they gain their power of operation. Fire contains within itself 
the whole of Alchemy by its natj%*e power to tinge, graduate, and fix, which 
\&^ as it were, born with it and impressed upon it.^ Every elaborator of 
cements, too, must attend carefully to the method of the process ; for the 
method is even of greater moment than the prescription or recipe. 

So, then, let us proceed to the series of the six cements, as being those 
wbereby all cements are regulated. Among these the first is the Royal 
Cement. Paying little heed to the method of the ancients, we will follow 
experience as our guide, and those prescriptions which experience proves to be 
of DO use we will omit. Thus : — 

Take Flower of Brass, Antimony, Brick Tiles, Common Salt, of each half a 
pound. Having pounded all these very small and mixed them together, let 
them be imbibed with wine and dried. Repeat this process twenty-four times. 
With this powder let plates of Luna be cemented, in a moderate degree of fire, 
for four hours. Then at length take Regulus, plated and crude from the 
former process, and cement it with the same materials and an equal degree of 
fire, repeating the operation four or five times. .Vftenvards, having fulminated 
it again with cinders or ashes, reduce it once more to Luna. The instruments, 
such as the melting vessels, etc., must be thoroughly luted and stopped up. 
And although what we here set down is a somewhat lengthy process, yet you 
must know we make it so for the reason that experience teaches us there is no 
good in short processes by fire. Indeed, seeing that the continuance and 
force of the fire supply the chief fixation for the Royal Cement, it would really 
be far better If the substances spoken of were left for four days in the same 
kind of cement. 

Note, too, that the flowers of brass should be extracted from copper by 
means of vitriol. For herein is contained some natural fixation when it is 
taken thus, and that for many reasons. 

So, too, the tiles should be taken from a good house ; for the roof has 
the power of fixing the vapours w^hich exist in Luna, which otherwise all fly- 
away and escape. 



• Tire lne» everything ; wkat ia Impure it rexiioy«( and tt brings about the nuuiifeslfttion of pure substAnces.— 
P^ramtrum^ Lib, L, c i. Fire Mparale the fixed rrom the rugttivc — ^/ Motbi* MetalliciSt Lib. IL, Tract I., c. i. 
What»ocver pertaint to separaiion bclotiEr^ to I be ^ictice of Akhcmy. It teairheai how to extract, coagulate, and 
separate ever>' Hubatance in ittt peculiar ve»6cL — Z># Morbh Ta^tartis^ c. \t, WhaUfoever man does the planets do 
also, but in an akhemiuic lensc and process. Accordingly, a,^ the AlcheniUt »ccks &aJtpetre lo iiitre^ mercury in dung, 
aulphur in ftre» m he alkO »eeki th« ftrnuuncntt which is tnvi»ibie Vulcan. Unticn he ha^ collected Lhcse substances and 
has united ihem^ detonation follows, of that kind which in heaven is called a ihuiHlerlKjli, but ihc Akhemkt terma it 
B^mh^fti. For he has the power of producing thunder, asi in magic, which l^ the philosophy of Alchemy. There 
are fooliih people who confound it with (what is now understood as) Kigromancy, yet there is u sense in which it is 
properly such, and in which "Kigromancj* is its true name from its earliest origin, being derived from the word blackness, 
becauwc lis intilat^ walk about as black ascharcoal burners. They are all N igromontica who serve Vulcan. ^Dt Cfi/ica^ 
i. V, Pnraipns. 



The Transmuiaiions of Metals and Cements. 



43 



Salt corrects and fixes leprous Luna, cleansing- it from its blackness. 
These four details should exist and be put into practice together ; but it is the 
fire that must be specially observed and noticed. To this cement no other 
metal is applied ; and after it is fulminated it discloses and exhibits gold. 
Therefore this cement should be considered sufficient for one. 



Concerning the Second Cement. 

The cement which vvc wish to put down in the second place is only for 
Sol, and with regard to it there are four objects which have to be considered. 
The first is that Sol is sometimes found in this cement defective in the fourth 
or middle part, because it is not fixed, or not broug-ht to its degree without its 
deficiencies^ as we set down in our treatise on Gradations. Wherefore it has 
to be cemented in order that it may be able to retain its own volatile body, 
which other%vise sometimes flies off in the cement, or in the process of inciner- 
ation, or else in aqua fortis, 

The second object is that a good deal of Sol is found which is defective 
in colour, and it is necessary one should know how to bring it to its perfection 
of colouring without diminution of its bulk, and so that the colours may 
remain in the specimens. 

The third is that this white, imperfect colour of So!, having the appear- 
ance of Luna^ may be cementedj so that it may retain the colour thence 
acquired in every specimen. 

The fourth concerns the weight in which the Sol is sometimes defective, 
so that it is esteemed as somewhat common. This must be entirely restored 
to it, when it proves its higher quality by its colour, and a higher grade of Sol 
exists, for many reasons. For the weight deceives no true artist, as the probe 
may, also, for many reasons. 

By means of cement gold can be perfected in these four particulars so that 
afterwards no defect shall be found in it, nor any volatile or unfixed condition. 
Let the preparation of this cement be as follows : — Antimony and Flower of 
Brass, of each half-a-pound ; of coagulated mercury* one-fourth of a pound ; let 
all be mixed together and imbibed with red oil of antimony until the whole is 
reddened. Afterwards cement with it gold in ver\^ thin plates or grains, lique- 
fied by fire for twenty-four hours, without the beat being allowed to decrease, 
in a fusing vessel closely fastened. When this time has elapsed, take out the 
Regulus not acted upon by the crude antimony. Let it be liquefied with the 
addition of copper-green or borax, and afterwards pour It into a form. So 
you will have the ver}^ best and most abundant cement for rendering Sol free 
from defects and in its highest degree, fixed and permanent in all cements, 
incinerations, and quartations. 

Concerning the Thtrd Cement. 

So far we have set down the two fixations or cementations for Luna and 
Sol, which ought to be adopted when these metals are to be multiplied. But 



44 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

others, too, have to be cemented, and afterwards placed in a colouring cement. 
This third cement is adapted for perfecting the other metals and rendering 
them fit in themselves for the tincture of the other cements. For where a 
metal has not been prepared and smeared over for this tincture it is not able to 
take it, or only in a very slight degree, and by a dangerous process. 

Quicksilver,* which is comprised under this cement, is not among the num- 
ber of the metals, but only among metallic materials and malleable bodies. The 
cement is to be made thus : Antimony, one pound ; Saltpetre, one pound ; 
common Salt and Salt of Tartar, half a pound each. Having mixed all these 
together, put them in a dish, placed layer by layer with plates or filings of the 
metals. Let them be closely shut up and cemented for twelve hours with a 
most powerful fire, which had been originally for the first two hours only a gentle 
one. When this time has elapsed, let all that remains be extracted, that is to 
say, the loppa (refuse) along with the Regulus. This must be noted, that all 
cementings of this kind do not exhibit the Regulus, but some of them only the 
loppas. These should be afterwards treated with Saturn, according to the 
ordinary method, and Saturn of the same kind burnt in the vessel ; then the metal 
will be found fixed upon it. And here mark the difference of the separation by 
means of the jar, the cupella, or the cineritium. The metal enters into the 
cineritium or the cupella, but in the other case it remains on the jar. Metal 
of this kind, which remains on the surface of the jar, you will cement a 
second or a third time, as above, so that it may turn out more fixed and remain 
on the cineritium. When this has been done, it is fixed for receiving the 
tincture, which is given it by cementation. 

With regard to this cement it should be remarked that two or three metals 
can be blended together in one mixture and one body, which will be better than 
before. The following is the method. Take filings of Mars, Venus, and 
Jupiter, or Saturn. Let them stand in a fire of liquefaction for twelve hours. 
Addition. The cement will be more useful, if besides the above there be taken 
of Antimony and Salt each one pound ; filings of Mars, Venus, and Saturn, 
half a pound each. Treat them as before mentioned. 

The Fourth Cement. 

The fourth cement is that which is composed of minerals containing 
within them a perfect metal, and losing it by means of liquefaction. Here it 
should be noted that metals cannot be better fixed than when they are crude. 
They vanish altogether in the process of liquefaction. Transmutation of this 
kind takes place in minerals and metals before liquefaction, so that the metals 
may be fixed in their own nature, or may be transmuted into some other metal. 
Therefore we will here comprise two cements under one. The former is 



* Quicksilver is generated from the Mercurial prime principle. It is not ductile, and is opposed to ductility. 
Although of all metals it is chiefly assimilated to Mercury, it diflfers in this, that it has not received ductility from the 
Archeus, through the weakness occasioned by its small quantity of salt and sulphur. It can, however, by the Spagyric 
process of addition, become a ductile metal, as is demonstrated by the philosophy of transmutation, which shews 
that it is capable of conversion into any metal. — Dt Elemmto Aqiuty Tract III., c. 7. 



The Transmutations of Metals and Cements. 



45 



for fixing a metal in a mineral without transmutation ; the latter for trans- 
muting the metal of Venus into Sol, or some other metal. It must be 
remembered that there are far more excellent spirits in minerals than in 
metals themselves. These are they which assist the g-radations and the 
fixations of minerals when they contain in themselves the tincture and the 
colours of the matter, which properties have not yet been destroyed by fire, as 
we fully point out in other books. The following is the prescription for fixing 
a metal in its own mineral *— 

Take of the mineral of Mars, well ground, one pound ; to which add two 
pounds respectively of Antimony and Saltpetre. Cover them closely, lute them, 
and let them be kindled in a fire of liquefaction for twenty-four hours. 
Then pour them out. Diminish with some reduction and fulminate with 
Saturn. Thus you will find metal of the same kind, with good colour of its 
own, which can be tested in many ways and demonstrated naturally. So with 
other minerals whereof we make no mention here. For ihe spirits existing 
crudely in metals take precedence according to their ow^n colours and essences* 

The following is the prescription for the transmutation of minerals : — 
Crocus of the flowers of Mars and flow^ers of the Crocus of Venus» each 
one pound. Vitriol and Alum, each half a pound. Prepared common salt, 
one pound. Of the mineral, two pounds. Let all be liquefied, deprived of 
humidity, and cemented for twelve hours. Afterwards let them be liquefied 
and fulminated in Saturn. When this is done there will be found in the vat 
a transmutation of the cineritium* You can even, for a transmutation of this 
kind, add a mixture of metals, taking into account, however, the special 
aptitude existing in them by means of which o\\^ can be more easily transmuted 
than another. 

The Fifth Cement. 

This fifth cement concerns only volatile bodies, as of common Mercury, 
and metals such as Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, etc. It must be remarked 
that the corporal Mercuries from the metals differ from the common Mercury 
in their tincture, since they demand more tincture from the proved metals than 
that common one does. So, too, it should be understood that both Mercuries, 
the corporal and the common, should be first of all coagulated in order that 
they may be able to resist the cement, and to recover their corpor;il substance, 
together w^ith their tincture and colouring, as the best metals should. 

The coagulation of Mercury* is as follows :— Take Aquafortis, weakened 
by a solution of Luna to such a degree that it no longer has any corrosive 
force nor sharpness for dissolving. Into this put either of the Mercuries 
before spoken of; let the water be warmed a little and afterwards stirred to 
a thick mass. Then the Mercury will coagulate and harden into the form of 



*' Mercury \% coagulated by Lead, for no Ttielol tuu greater affinity for Mercuiy than leari {My^esMS. Coagulatiofl 
U performed thus : Take 3ii. of fine lead. MeJt it in a vessel of clay ; remove it from the fire, and let U cool tomeixrhat. 
When it approftchct congdiitioD, pour into it the ^aoie quantity of living VLvKxarf^—ArchtdojfU Magkw^ Lib. V[ L 



46 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

metal. Take it out of the water ; wash until clean, and then cement it with 
the following ; — Borax, two drams and a half; Sal ammoniac, two ounces; 
Crocus of the Flower of Brass, and Flower of the Crocus of Mars, each six 
ounces ; calcined Vitriol and calcined Alum, each two ounces; H^ematitis and 
Botus Armeni, each two ounces. Let them he well pounded, mixed, and 
imbibed several times in urine. Afterwards let them be placed, layer by layer, 
in a fusing vessel, with the junctions closed and luted, Y^ou will cement by 
observing" the degrees of fire, gently for one hour, and then with a stronger 
heat for the next hour. Cement for four hours, and keep in a state of fluxion. 
Then put it in Saturn and fulminate. So you will have the transmutation of 
Mercur\^ as we said above. 

But when it has been cemented otherwise than in the way now described, 
it can still be transmuted with the following cement : — Cinnabar and Borax, 
of each half a dram. Let these be liquefied into one body, which sublimate 
after the method of Cinnabar, so that it shall still be one body. Then add the 
following : Calcined Common Salt, Flowers of Brass, Crocus of Mars, Bolus, 
of each two ounces; of the above-mentioned body, one dram. Let them be 
placed layer by layer in a crucible ; afterwards let them be slowly heated for 
the first six hours, and for the next six treated with a greater fire, and at last 
for twxlve hours subjected to the most violent heat. This having been done, 
again sublimate as above by the aforesaid process, and on the fourth or fifth 
cement you will find the cinnabar fixed, which reduce and fulminate by Saturn. 
You will then have its transmutation as aforesaid. In this way you can proceed 
to transmutation with other volatile bodies. 

The Sixth Cement. 

It now remains to be said in what way Part with Part comes to be ce- 
mented so that it receives more of the tincture, and receives it sooner than by 
other like operations of the Artists, because Sol is fixed and graduated by the 
cement. It should be understood, too, that these should be cemented and 
both raised to the highest degree, prepared, subtilised, and re-purified ; after- 
wards liquefied at the same time, and made into plates in equal weight, then 
stratified in a crucible closely shut, with the following powder : Cinnabar, 
Flower of Brass, Bloodstone, half a dram each ; Sal Ammoniac, Calamine, 
Sulphur, Common Salt, Vitriol, Alum, and Crocus of Mars, two ounces each. 

After having been well ground and mixed into one body, let them be 
exposed to a gentle fire, and afterwards imbibed with urine, and at length use 
it for the aforesaid strat^cation. Let them be placed at the fire six hours to 
liquefy : then renew and liquefy for another six hours. Do the same a third time 
for twelve hours ; a fourth time for twenty-four hours. Lastly, liquefy by a 
fulmen of Saturn. In this way you have transmutation, If, however, you have 
selected other metals, such as Venus or Mars, add more of the powder and 
more heat, that they may be able to mix and be brought to a state of 
transmutation* 




The Transmutations of Metals and Cements. 47 

Conclusion. 

In these few words we would conclude our book on cements, believing that 
we have treated these matters with sufficent clearness. Although many other 
prescriptions for similar cementations are in vogue, we exclude them from 
our own enumeration, putting down in this place only those which have been 
by experiment proved more useful. 



Here ends the Transmutations of Metals and Cements. 



A 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



49 



patriarch Jacob painted, as it were, the sheep with various colours ; and this 
was done by magic : for in the theolog>^ of the Chaldeans, Hebrews, Persians, 
and Egfpytians, they held these arts to be the highest philosophy, to be learnt 
by their chief nobles and priests. So it was in the time of Moses, when both 
the priests and also the physicians were chosen from among £he Magi — the 
priests for the judgment of what related to health, especially in the knowledge 
of leprosy. Moses, likewise, was instructed in the Eg}*ptian schools, at the 
cost and care of Pharaoh^s daughter, so that he excelled in all the wisdom and 
learning of that people. Thus, too, was it with Daniel, who in his youthful 
days imbibed the learning of the Chaldeans, so that he became a cabalist. 
Witness his divine predictions and his exposition of those words, ** Mene, 
Mene, Tecelphares/' These words can be understood by the prophetic and 
cabalistic Art. This cabalistic Art was perfectly familiar to, and in constant 
use by, Moses and the Prophets, The Prophet Elias foretold many things by 
his cabalistic numbers. So did the Wise Men of old, by this natural and 
mystical Art, learn to know God rightly. They abode in His laws, and 
walked in His statutes with great firmness. It is also evident in the Book of 
Samuel, that the Be relists did not follow the devil's part, but became, by 
Divine permission, partakers of visions and veritable apparitions, whereof we 
shall treat more at large in the Book of Supercelestial Things.* This gift is 
granted by the Lord God to those priests who walk in the Divine precepts. Ft 
was a custom among the Persians never to admit any one as king unless he 
were a Wise Man, pre-eminent in reality as well as in name. This is clear 
from the customarj' name of their kings ; for they were called Wise Men. 
Such were those Wise Men and Persian Magi who came from the East to seek 
out the Lord Jesus, and are called natural priests. The Egyptians, also, hav- 
ing obtained this magic and philosophy from the Chaldeans and Persians, 
desired that their priests should learn the same wisdom ; and they became so 
fruitful and successful therein that all the neighbouring countries admired 
them. For this reason Hermes was so truly named Trismegistus, because 
he was a king, a priest, a prophet, a magician, and a sophist of natural 
things. Such another was Zoroaster. 

CHAPTER H. 

Wherein is Declared that the Greeks drew a large part 
OF THEIR Learning from the Egvptians ; and how 

IT CAME FROM THEM TO US. 

When a son of Noah possessed the third part of the world after the Flood, 
this Art broke into Chaldsea and Persia, and thence spread into Egypt. The 
Art having been found out by the superstitious and idolatrous Greeks, some 
of them who were wiser than the rest betook themselves to the Chaldeans and 



• Koworiepn 
reference is iiiad€ i 



r oorretpondmg to this title is ex^taai i 
•Cil9»ed in tbe Pkiia$tfkia Sii^tuf, 



the wrUSngs c/ Paracelsus. Tbe subjects to whtdi 

E 



50 The Herfnetic and Alchemical Wriitngs of Paracelsus, 

Egyptians, so that they might draw the same wisdom from their schools. 
Since, however, the theological study of the law of Moses did not satisfy 
them^ they trusted to their own peculiar genius, and fell away from the right 
foundation of those natural secrets and arts. This is evident from their 
fabulous conceptions, and from their errors respecting the doctrine of Moses. 
It was the custom of the Egyptians to put forward the traditions of that 
surpassing wisdom only in enigmatical figures and abstruse histories and 
terms* This was afterwards followed by Homer with marvellous poetical 
skill ; and Pythagoras was also acquainted with it, seeing that he comprised 
in his writings many things out ot the law of Moses and the Old Testament* 
In like manner, Hippocrates, Thales of Miletus, Anaxagoras, Democritus, and 
others, did not scruple to fix their minds on the same subject. And yet none 
of them were practised in the true Astrology, Geometry, Arithmetic, or 
Medicine, because their pride pre\xnted this, since they would not admit 
disciples belonging to other nations than their own. Even when they had got 
some insight from the Chaldeans and Egyptians, they became more arrogant 
still than they were before by Nature, and without any diffidence propounded 
the subject substantially indeed, but mixed with subtle fictions or falsehoods ; 
and then they attempted to elaborate a certain kind of philosophy \\hich 
descended from them to the Latins. These in their turn, being educated 
herewith, adorned it with their own doctrines, and by these the philosophy 
was spread over Europe. Many academies were founded for the propagation 
of their dogmas and rules, so that the young might be instructed ; and this 
system flourishes with the Germans, and other nations, right down to the 
present day. 

CHAPTER III. 

What was Taught tn the Schools of the Egyptians. 

The Chaldeans, Persians, and Eg>'ptians had all of them the same know- 
ledge of the secrets of Nature^ and also the same religion* It was only the 
names that differed. The Chaldeans and Persians called their doctrine Sophia 
and Magic* ; and the Egyptians, because of the sacrifice, called their wisdom 
priestcraft. The magic of the Persians, and the theology of the Egy^ptians, 
were both of them taught in the schools of old. Though there were many 
schools and learned men in Arabia, Africa, and Greece, such as Albumazar, 
Abenxagel, Geber, Rhasis, and Avicenna among the Arabians ; and among 
the Greeks, Machaon, Podalirius, Pythagoras, Anaxagoras, Democritus, Plato, 
Aristotle, and Rhodianus ; still there were diff"e rent opinions amongst them as to 
the wisdom of the Egy^ptian on points wherein they themselves differed, and 
whereupon they disagreed with it. For this reason Pythagoras could not be 



• Before all things it is necessary lo have a right under»tanding of the nature of Celesiial Magk. It originates 
from divifie virtue. There h that magic which Moses ptractisedi and ihere is the tnaleficenl magic of the sorcerers. 
There are, then, different kirid& of Magi So al-^ there is what k called the Magic of Nature ; there is the Celestial 
Ma£\ii ; there b the Afaguai of Fatth» ihal vs^ one whose faith make^ him whole. There i&, hAxlft the Magtis of 
Perdition.— /*A»Vwtf/*i*i J«/n,r, lib. IL, c. 6. 




The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



51 



called a wise man, because the Egyptian priestcraft and wisdom were not per- 
pectly taught, although he received therefrom many mysteries and arcana; and 
that Anaxagoras had received a great many as well, Is clear from his discussions 
on the subject of Sol and its Stone, which he left behind him after his death. 
Yet he differed in many respects from the Egyptians, Even they w*ould not be 
called wise men or Magi ; but, following Pythagoras, they assumed the name 
of philosophy : yet they gathered no more than a few gleams like shadows 
from the magic of the Persians and the Egyptians. But Moses, Abraham, 
Solomon, Adam, and the wise men that came from the East to Chnst. were 
true Magi, divine sophists and cabalists. Of this art and wisdom the Greeks 
knew very little or nothing at all ; and therefore we shall leave this philo- 
sophical w^isdom of the Greeks as being a mere speculation, utterly distinct 
and separate from other true arts and sciences. 

CHAPTER IV. 

What Magi the Chaldeans, Persians, and Egyptians were. 

Many persons have endeavoured to investigate and make use of the secret 
magic of these wise men ; but it has not yet been accomplished. Many even 
ot our own age exalt Trithemius, others Bacon and Agrippa, for magic and the 
cabala* — tw^o things apparently quite distinct — not knowing why they do so. 
Magic, indeed, is an art and faculty whereby the elementary bodies, their 
fruits^ properties, virtues, and hidden operations are comprehended. But the 
cabala, by a subtle understanding of the Scriptures, seems to trace out the 
way to God for men» to shew them how they may act with Him, and prophesy 
from Him ; for the cabala is full of divine mysteries ^ even as Magic is full of 
natural secrets. It teaches of and foretells from the nature of things to come as 
ivell as of things present, since its operation consists in knowing the inner 
constitution of all creatures, of celestial as well as terrestrial bodies : what is 
latent within them ; what are their occult virtues ; for what they \xQ.r^ origin- 
ally designed, and w^ith what properties they are endowed. These and the like 
subjects are the bonds wherewith things celestial are bound up with things of 
the earth, as may sometimes be seen in their operation even with the bodily 
eyes. Such a conjunction of celestial influences, whereby the heavenly 
virtues acted upon inferior bodies, was formerly called by the M;igi a Gamahea^t 



• Learn, ihtrefore, Astronomic Magic, which otherwise I caJl cabal Utic. -D* Pt$tilit*tU^ Tract I. This art, 
formerly ca^llcd cabalistic, ivas in the bcginnifig named caballa, and afterwards caballio. It li a »pecica, of nuijg;k. It 
wu also, but fatsely, oil led Gahanala, by one whome knowledgie of the subject was profound* It was of an unknown 
Ethnic origin, and it pavW suUsequetitiy to the ChaldKaat and Hebrews, by both of whom it was corrupted.— 

t The object which received the influence and exhibited the sign thereof appears to have been termed Gamftheu^ 
Gamahey, etc. Dut the name was chiefly given to certain »toncs on which various and wonderful images and figures 
of meii and animak have been found oaturally depicted, being no work of man, but the result of the providence and 
counsel of God*--/?r tmnginihks, c. 7 and c. 13, It i* possible, magically, for a man to project his influence into 
theste stoineK and Ktme other substances.— /<**rf., c. 13. But they aI*o have their own inherent virtue^ which is indi- 
cated by the shape and the special nature of the imprc$sjoci«- /^iV/., c* 7. Tbedre was also an artificial Gamaheus 
invented and prepared by the Magi, and this teems to have been more powerfiii^/V Cartim^ Angtlice. 

£2 



52 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

or the marriag'e of the celestial powers and properties with elementary bodieSi 
Hence ensued the excellent commixtures of all bodies, celestial and terrestrial, 
namely, of the sun and planets, likewise vegetables» minerals^ and animals. 

The devil attempted with his %vhole force and endeavour to darken this 
light ; nor was he wholly frustrated in his hopes, for he deprived all Greece 
of it, and, in place thereof, introduced among that people human speculations 
and simple blasphemies against God and against His Son. Magic, it is true, 
had its origin in the Divine Ternary and arose from the Trinity of God. For 
God marked all His creatures with this Ternary and engraved its hieroglyph 
on them with His own finger. Nothing in the nature of things can be assigned 
or produced that lacks this magister\^ of the Divine Ternary, or that does 
not even ocularly prove it. The creature teaches us to understand and see the 
Creator Himself, as St, Paul testifies to the Romans. This covenant of the 
Divine Ternary, diffused throughout the whole substance of things, is indis- 
soluble. By this, also, we have the secrets of all Nature from the four elements. 
For the Ternary, with the magical Quaternary, produces a perfect Septenary', 
endowed with many arcana and demonstrated by things which are known. 
When the Quaternary rests in the Ternarj% then arises the Light of the World 
on the horizon of eternity, and by the assistance of God gives us the whole 
bond. Here also it refers to the virtues and operations of all creatures, and to 
their use, since they are stamped and marked with their arcana, signs, char- 
acters, and figures, so that there is left in them scarcely the smallest occult 
point which is not made clear on examination. Then when the Quaternary and 
the Ternar}' mount to the Denary is accomplished their retrogression or 
reduction to unity. Herein is comprised all the occult wisdom of things which 
God has made plainly manifest to men, both by His word and by the creatures 
of His hands, so that they may have a true knowledge of them, This shall 
be made more clear in another place. 



CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the Chief and Supreme Essence of Things. 

The Magi In their wisdom asserted that all creatures might be brought to 
one unified substance, which substance they affirm may, by purifications and 
purgations, attain to so high a degree of subtlety, such divine nature and 
occult property^ as to work wonderful results. For they considered that by 
returning to the earth, and by a supreme magical separation, a certain perfect 
substance would come forth, which js at length, by many industrious and pro- 
longed preparations, exalted and raised up above the range of vegetable 
substances into mineral, above mineral into metallic, and above perfect metallic 
substances into a perpetual and divine Quintessence,* including in itself the 



• Man was regarded by Paracelstu as btauelf in a speciAl manner the true Quintessence After G«l had created 
all the elenienu^ stat^, and every other created thingf and had disposed tbciu according to His will, He proceeded^ 
lastly, to the forming of pian» He extracted the essence out of the four elements into ooie moss ; He extincted also the 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



53 



essence of all celestial and terrestrial creatures. The Arabs and Greeks, by 
the occult characters and hieroglyphic descriptions of the Persians and the 
Egyptians, attained to secret and abstruse mysteries. When these were 
obtained and partially understood they saw with their own eyes, in the course 
of experimenting, many wonderful and strange effects. But since the super- 
celestial operations lay more deeply hidden than their capacity could penetrate, 
they did not call this a supercelestial arcanum according to the institution of the 
Magi I but the arcanum of the Philosophers* Stone according to the counsel 
and judgment of Pythagoras* Whoever obtained this Stone overshadowed it 
with various enigmatical figures, deceptive resemblances, comparisons, and 
fictitious titles, so that its matter might remain occult. Ver>* little or no 
knowledge of it therefore can be had from them. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Concerning the Different Errors as to its Discovery and Knowledge. 

The philosophers have prefixed most occult names to this matter of the 
Stone, grounded on mere similitudes. Arnold » observing this, says in his 
" Rosary " that the greatest difficulty is to find out the material of this Stone ; 
for they have called it vegetable, animal, and mineral* but not according to 
the literal sense, which is well known to such wise men as have had experience 
of divine secrets and the miracles of this same Stone, For example, Raymond 
Lully's **Lunaria" may be cited. This gives flowers of admirable virtues 
familiar to the philosophers themselves ; but it was not the intention of those 
philosophers that you should think they meant thereby any projection upon 
metals, or that any such preparations should be made ; but the abstruse mind 
of the philosophers had another intention. In like manner, they called their 
matter by the name of Martagon, to which they applied an occult alchemical 
'operation ; when, notwithstanding that name, it denotes nothing more than a 
hidden similitude. Moreover, no small error has arisen in the liquid of 
vegetables, w^ith which a good many have sought to coagulate Mercury,* and 
afterwards to convert it with fixatory waters into Luna, since they supposed 
that he who in this way could coagulate it without the aid of metals would 
succeed in becoming the chief master. Now, although the liquids of some 
vegetables do effect this^ yet the result is due merely to the resin, fat, and 
earthy sulphur with which they abound. This attracts to itself the moisture 



esAcnce of wiidom, art^ and reason out of ihc »ta», Atul tbu twofold essence He congested into one ma&s : which cnaikA 
Scripture csdU the sUme of the earth. From that mas* two bodies were made— the sidereal and the elementary. 
These, accckrding lo iht; light of Kaiure, are called the ^mntnm tsw. The ina&» wa« exlractvd, and tliiaeii> the ftmia- 
ment aiid the elements were condciucd. What was extracted from the four After this maimer con&tituletl a fiflli. 
The Quintessence is the nucleus and the place of the es^encet and properties of atl things in the universal world. 
Ail nature came into the hand of God -all potency, all property, all esietice of the superior and inferior globe. All 
these had God joined in His hand, and G?om tliese He focroed num acconiing to His ima^e. — /'^V^^^/Am S«£ttx, 
Lib. L, c. 9, 

* All created things proceed from the coagulated, and aAcr coagulation intiat go oo to resoluttoa* From resolution 
proceed all procreated i\x\ns^—Dt Tariurv (fragiDenl). Alt bodies of minerals are coagulated by iolu—Di 
j^ttSmrafiittj Aquis^ Lib. 111., Tract j. 



54 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

of the Mcrcui*y which rises with the substance in th*2 process of coagulation, 
but without any advantage resulting. 1 am w^ell assured that no thick and 
external Sulphur in vegetables Is adapted for a perfect projection in Alchemyi 
as some have found out to their cost. Certain persons have, it is true, coagu- 
lated Mercur>^ with the while and milky juice of tittinal, on account of the 
intense heat which exists therein j and they have called that liquid ** Lac 
Virginis ** j yet this Is a false basis. The same may be asserted concerning 
the juice of celandine, although it coli^-urs just as though it were endowed with 
gold. Hence people conceived a vain idea. At a certain fixed time they 
rooted up this vegetable, from which they sought for a soul or quintessence, 
wherefrom they might make a coagulating and transmuting tincture. But 
hence arose nothing save a foolish error. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

CONCERXmc THE ERRORS OF THOSE WHO SEEK THE StONE IN VEGETABLES* 

Some alchemists have pressed a juice out of celandine, boiled it to 
thickness, and put it in the sun, so that it might coagulate into a hard mass, 
which, being afterwards pounded into a fine black powder, should turn 
Mercury by projection into SoL This they also found to be in vain. Others 
mixed Sal Ammoniac with this powder ; others the Colcothar of Vitriol, 
supposing that they would thus arrive at their desired result. They brought 
it by their solutions into a yellow water, so that the Sal Ammoniac allow^ed an 
entrance of Ihe tincture into the substance of the Mercury. Yet again nothing 
was accomplished. There are some again who, instead of the above- 
mentioned substances, take the juices of persicaria, bufonaria, dracunculus, 
the leaves of willow, tithymal, cataputia, flammula, and the like, and shut 
them up in a glass vessel with Mercury for some days, keeping them In ashes. 
Thus It comes about that the Mercury is turned into ashes» but deceptively 
and without any result. These people wxre misled by the vain rumours of the 
vulgar, who give it out that he who is able to coagulate Mercury without 
metals has the entire Magistery, as we have said before. Many, too, have 
extracted salts, oils, and sulphurs artificially out of vegetables, but quite In 
vain. Out of such salts, oils* and sulphurs no coagulation of Mercur\', or per- 
fect projectlonj or tincture, can be made. But when the philosophers compare 
their matter to a certain golden tree of seven boughs, they mean that such 
matter includes all the seven metals in its sperm, and that in it these lie 
hidden. On this account they called their matter vegetable » because, as In 
the case of natural trees, they also in their time produce various flowers. So, 
too, the matter of the Stone shews most beautiful colours in the production of 
its flowers. The comparison, also, is apt, because a certain matter rises out 
of the philosophical earth, as if it w^ere a thicket of branches and sprouts, like 
a sponge growing on the earth. They say, therefore, that the fruit of their 
tree tends towards heaven. So, then, they put forth that the whole thing 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



55 



hinged upon natural v^egfetables, though not as to its matter, because their 
stone contains within itself a body, soul, and spirit, as vegetables do. 

CHAPTER VIIL 

Concerning those who have sought the Stone in Animals, 

They ha%'e also, by a name based only on resemblances, called this matter 
Lac Virginis^ and the Blessed Blood of Rosy Colour, which, nevertheless, suits 
only the prophets and sons of God. Hence the sophists* gathered that this 
philosophical matter was in the blood of animals or of man. Sometimes, too, 
because they are nourished by vegetables, others have sought it in hairs, in 
salt of urine, in rebis ; others in hens* ^%^s^ in milk, and in the calx of ^^^ 
shells, with all of which they thought they would be able to fix Mercury. 
Some have extracted salt out oi foetid urine, supposing that to be the matter 
of the Stone. Some persons, again, have considered the little stones found in 
rebis to be the matter. Others have macerated the membranes of eggs in a 
sharp lixivium, with which they also mixed calcined ^^^ shells as white as 
snow. To these they have attributed the arcanum of fixation for the trans- 
mutation of Mercurj'. Others, comparing the white of the ^^^ to silver and 
the yolk to gold, have chosen it for their matter, mixing with it common salt, 
sal ammoniac, and burnt tartar* These they shut up in a glass vessel, and 
purified in a Balneum Maris until the white matter became as red as blood. 
This, again, they distilled into a most ofTenstve liquid, utterly useless for the 
purpose they had in view. Others have purified the white and yolk of eggs, 
from which has been generated a basilisk. This they burnt to a deep red 
powder, and sought to tinge with it, as they learnt from the treatise of 
Cardinal Gilbert. Many, again, have macerated the galls of oxen, mixed 
with common salt, and distilled this into a liquid^ with which they moistened 
the cementary powders, supposing that, by means of this Magistery, they 
would tinge their metals. This they called by the name of **a part with a 
part,'' and thence came— just nothing. Others have attempted to transmute 
tiitia by the addition of dragon's blood and other substances, and also to 
change copper and electrum into gold. Others, according to the Venetian 
Art, as they call it, take twenty lizard-like animals, more or less, shut them 
up in a vessel, and make them mad with hunger, so that ihey may devour on^ 
another until only one of them survives. This one is then fed with filings of 
copper or of electrum. They suppose that this animal, simply by the digestion 
of his stomach, will bring about the desired transmutation. Finally, they 
burn this animal into a red pow^der, which they thought must be gold ; but 
they were deceived. Others, again, having burned the fishes called truitas 
(? trouts), have sometimes, upon melting them, found some gold in them ; 
but there is no other reason for it than this : Those fish sometimes in rivers 



* So acute is the potency of calcined blood, tbjLt if il be poured slowly on Iron h produces in the ^nt pkoe * white* 
oess thcTCoat and then generates nut.—^r4<r/rVt in Libr&s eU Turtaro. In Lib, tl.. Tract U. 



56 The Hef-^nelic and Alchemical Wriiings of Paracelsus. 

and streams meet with certain small scales and sparks of gold, which they 
eat. It is seldom, however, that such deceivers are found, and then chiefly in 
the courts of princes* The matter of the philosophers is not to be sought in 
animals : this I announce to all. Stilly it is evident that the philosophers 
called their Stone animal, because in their final operations the virtue of this 
most excellent fier^' myster}' caused an obscure liquid to exude drop by drop 
from the matter in their vessels. Hence they predicted that, in the last times, 
there should come a most pure man upon the earth, by whom the redemption 
of the world should be brought about ; and that this man should send forth 
bloody drops of a red colour, by means of which he should redeem the world 
from sin In the same way, after its own kind^ the blood of their Stone freed 
the leprous metals from their infirmities and contagion. On these grounds, 
therefore, they supposed they were justified in saying that their Stone was 
animal. Concerning this mysterj^ Mercurius speaks as follows to King 
Caltd :— 

**This mystery it is permitted only to the prophets of God to know. 
Hence it comes to pass that this Stone is called animal, because in its blood a 
soul lies hid. It is likewise composed of body» spirit^ and souL For the 
same reason they called it their microcosm, because it has the likeness of all 
things in the world, and thence they termed it animal, as Plato named the 
great world an anima!/* 

CHAPTER IX. 

Concerning those who have sought the Stoke in Minerals. 

Hereto are added the many ignorant men who suppose the stone to be 
three- fold, and to be hidden in a triple genus, namely, vegetable, animal, and 
mineral* Hence it is that they have sought for it in minerals. Now, this is 
far from the opinion of the philosophers. They afhrm that their stone is 
uniformly vegetable, animal, and mineral. Now, here note that Nature has 
distributed its mineral sperm into various kinds, as, for instance, into sulphurs, 
salts, boraxes, nitres, ammoniacs, alums, arsenics, atrament^, vltriois, tutias, 
haematites, orpiments, realgars, magnesias, cinnabar, antimony, talc, cachymia, 
marcasites, etc. In all these Nature has not yet attained to our matter j 
although in some of the species named it displays itself in a wonderful aspect 
for the transmutation of imperfect metals that are to be brought to perfection. 
Truly, long experience and practice with fire shew many and various 
permutations in the matter of minerals, not only from one colour to another, 
but from one essence to another, and from imperfection to perfection. And, 
although Nature has, by means of prepared minerals, reached some perfection, 
yet philosophers will not have it that the matter of the philosophic stone 
proceeds out of any of the minerals, although they say that their stone is 
universal. Hence, then, the sophists take occasion to persecute Mercury 
himself with various torments, as with sublimations, coagulations, mercurial 
waters, aquafortis, and the like. All these erroneous ways should be avoided, 



The Aurora of the Philosopfurs. 



57 



together with other sophistical preparations of minerals, and the purgations and 
fixations of spirits and metals. Wherefore all the preparations of the stone, 
as of Geber, Albertus Magnus, and the rest, are sophisticaL Their purga- 
tions, cementations, sublimations dislillationsj rectificaiion-s, circulations, 
putrefactions, conjunctions, solutions, ascensions, coagulations, calcinations, 
and incinerations are utterly profitless, both in the tripod, in the athanor, in 
the reverberatory furnace, in the melting furnace, the accidioneum, in dung, 
ashes, sand, or what not; and also in the cucurbtte^ the pelican, retort, 
phial, fixatory, and the rest* The same opinion must be passed on the 
sublimation of Mercury by mineral spirits, for the white and the redt 
as by vitriol, saltpetre, alum, crocuses, etc., concerning all which subjects 
that sophist, John de Rupescissa, romances in his treatise on the White and 
Red Philosophic Stone, Taken altogether, these are merely deceitful dreams* 
Avoid also the particular sophistry of Geber ; for example, his sevenfold 
sublimations or mortifications, and also the revivifications of Mercury, with his 
preparations of salts of urine, or salts made by a sepulchre, all which things 
are untrustworthy. Some others have endeavoured to fix Mercury with 
the sulphurs of minerals and metals, but have been greatly deceived* It is true 
1 have seen Mercury by this Art, and by such fixations, brought into a metallic 
body resembling and counterfeiting good silver in all respects ; but when 
brought to the test it has shewn itself to be false. 



CHAPTER X* 

Concerning those who have sought the Stone and also Particulars 

IN Minerals* 

Some sophists have tried to squeeze out a fixed oil from Mercury seven 
times sublimed and as often dissolved by means of aquafortis. In this way 
they attempt to bring imperfect metals to perfection : but they have been 
obliged to relinquish their vain endeavour* Some have purged vitriol seven 
times by calcination, solution, and coagulation, with the addition of two parts 
of sal ammoniac, and by sublimation, so that it might be resolved into a 
white water, to which they have added a third part of quicksilver, that it might 
be coagulated by water. Then afterwards they have sublimated the Mercury 
several times from the vitriol and sal ammoniac, so that it became a stone. 
This stone they affirmed, being conceived of the vitriol, to be the Red 
Sulphur of the philosophers, with w^hich they have, by means of solutions 
and coagulations, made some progress in attaining the stone ; but in projec- 
tion it has <dl come to nothing. Others have coagulated Mercury by water 
of alum into a hard mass like alum itself ; and this they have fruitlessly fixed 
with fixatory^ waters. The sophists propose to thtjmselves very man}^ ways of 
fixing Mercury, but to no purpose, for therein nothing perfect or constant can 
be had. It is therefore in vain to add minerals thereto by sophistical pro- 
cesses, since by all of them he is stirred up to greater malice, is rendered 



58 The Hermetic and Akhemkal Writings of Paracelsus, 

more lively, and rather brought to greater impurity than to any kind of 
perfection. So, then, the philosophers' matter is not to be sought from 
thence. Mercuiy is somewhat imperfect ; and to bring it to perfection will 
be very difficult, nay, impossible for any sophist. There is nothing therein 
that can be stirred up or compelled to perfection. Some have taken arsenic 
several limes sublimated, and frequently dissolved with oil of tartar and 
coagidatcd. This they have pretended to fix, and by it to turn copper into 
silver. This, however, is merely a sophistical w^hitening, for arsenic cannot be 
fixed* unless the operator be an Artist, and knows well its tlngeing spirit. 
Truly in this respect all the philosophers have slept, vainly attempting to 
accomplish anything thereby. Whoever, therefore^ is ignorant as to this 
spirit, cannot have any hopes of fixing it, or of giving it that power which 
would make it capable of the virtue of transmutation. So, then, I give notice 
to all that the whitening of which I have just now spoken is grounded on a 
false basis, and that by it the copper is deceitfully whitened, but not changed. 

Now the sophists have mixed this counterfeit Venus with twice its weight 
of Luna, and sold it to the goldsmiths and mint-masters, until at last they have 
transmuted themselves into false coiners — not only those who sold, but those 
who bought it* Some sophists instead of white arsenic take red, and this has 
turned out false art ; because, how^ever it is prepared, it proves to be nothing 
but whiteness. 

Some, again, have gone further and dealt with common sulphur, which, 
being so yellow, they have boiled in vinegar, lixivium, or sharpest wines, for a 
day and a night, until it became white. Then afterw-ards they sublimated it 
from common salt and the calx of eggs, repeating the process several times ; 
yet, still, though white, it has been always combustible. Nevertheless, with 
this they have endeavoured to fix Mercury and to turn It into gold ; but in vain. 
From this^ however, comes the most excellent and beautiful cinnabar that I 
have ever seen. This they propose to fix with the oil of sulphur by cementation 
and fixation. It does, indeed, give something of an appearance, but still falls 
short of the desired object. Others have reduced common sulphur to the form 
of a hepar^ boiling it in vinegar with the addition of linseed oili or laterine oil, or 
olive oil. They then pour it into a marble mortar, and make it into the form of a 
hepar, which they have first distilled into a citrine oil with a gentle fire. But 
they have found to their loss that they could not do anything in the way of 
transmuting Luna to Sol as they supposed they would be able. As there is 
an infinite number of metals, so also there is much variety in the preparation 
of them. I shall not make further mention of these in this place, because each 



* One recipe rcrr the ftxAtion arar&cnic h, as follows r-Take equal parts orar&cnic aiiid nitre. Place these in a tig- 
ilium, set upcm coals, »o that tbey may begin to boil and to evaporate* Continue till ebullition and e\'%poration cease, 
and the smbstAflcci shall have settled to the bottom of the vctsel like fat melting in a fr>^ing-pan ; then, for the space 
of an hour and a half (the longer the better), set it npart to settle. Subsequently pour the compound upon marble^ and 
it will aoquire a gold colour, tn a damp place it will ai^unic the con&Lsitency of a fatty iuid. — ZV Na/mfaliims Js'e&ut, 
C 9. A^ain : The lixation of onienk Ia performed by &a]t of urine, after which it is converted by itself into an oiL — 
Ckirmrgia A/i»^ Lib. IL 



The Aurora of the Philosophers, 



59 



would require a special treatise. Beware also iy{ sophisticated oils of vitriol 
and antimony. Likewise be on your guard against the oils of tlie metals, 
perfect or imperfect, as Sol or Luna ; because although the operation of these 
is most potent in the nature of things, yet the true process is known, even at 
this day^ to very few persons. Abstain also from the sophistical preparations 
of common mercur\\ arsenic, sulphur, and the like, by sublimation, descension, 
fixation by vinegar, saltpetre, tartar, vitriol, sal ammoniac, according to the 
formuUis prescribed in the books of the sophists. Likewise avoid the 
sophisticated tinctures taken from marcasltes and crocus of Mars, and also of 
that sophistication called by the name oi ** a part with a part/' and of fixed 
Luna and similar trifles. Although they have some superficial appearance of 
truth, as the fixation of Luna by httle labour and industrj, still the progress of 
the preparation is worthless and weak. Being therefore moved with compassion 
towards the well meaning operators in this art, I have determined to lay open 
the wliole foundation of philosophy in three separate arcana, namely, in one 
explained by arsenic, in a second by vitriol, and in a third by antimony ; by 
means of which I will teach the true projection upon Mercury and upon the 
imperfect metals. 

CHAPTER XL 
Concerning the trlte and perfect special ARCANLm of Arsenic 

FOR THE WHITE TINCTURE, 

Some persons have wTitten that arsenic is compounded of Mercury and 
Sulphur, others of earth and water ; but most writers say that it is of the 
nature oi Sulphur. But, however that may be, its nature is such that it trans- 
mutes red copper into white. It may also be brought to such a perfect state 
of preparation as to be able to tinge. But this is not done in the way pointed 
out by such evil sophists as Gcber in **The Sum of Perfection,^' Albertus 
Magnus, Aristotle the chemist in ** The Book of the Perfect Magistery/' Rhasis 
and Polydorus ; for those writers, however many they be, are either themselves 
in error, or else they write falsely out of sheer envy, and put forth receipts 
whilst not ignorant of the truth. Arsenic contains within itself three natural 
spirits. The first is volatile^ combustible, corrosive, and penetrating all metals. 
This spirit whitens Venus and alter some days renders it spongy. But this 
artifice relates only to those who practise the caustic art. The second spirit 
is crystalline and sweet. The third is a tingeing spirit separated from the 
others before mentioned. True philosophers seek for these three natural 
properties in arsenic with a view to the perfect projection of the wise men.* 
But those barbers who practise surgery seek after that sweet and crystalline 
nature separated from the tingeing spirit for use in the cure of wounds, buboes, 



* Concerning the kinds of arsenii:, it )& to be noted that there are thosrc which flow forth from their proper mineral 
Of meul, AtuI :u-e called native smenlcs Next there tat. OLrsenics out of metals after their kind. Then there are thotte 
made by Art through traniMnutation. White or crystallLne arsenic i* the best for medicine. Yellow and rctl ar»enic are 
utUiMMl by chemisits for investigating the transmutation of metaJ^^ iti which anicmc has a special efBcacy.— /?/ Nnimra' 
libus Rettu^ c. 9. 



6o The Hermetic and Alcfumical Writings of Paracelsus. 

carbuncles, anthrax, and other similar ulcers which are not curable save by 
gentle means. As for that tingeing spirit, however, unless the pure be 
separated from the impure in it, the fixed from the volatile, and the secret 
tincture from the combustible, it will not in any way succeed according to your 
wish for projection on Mercury, Venus, or any other imperfect metal. All 
philosophers have hidden this arcanum as a most excellent mystery. This 
tingeing spirit, separated from the other two as above, you must join to the 
spirit of Luna, and digest them together for the space of thirty-two days, or 
until they have assumed a new body. After it has, on the fortieth natural day, 
been kindled into flame by the heat of the sun, the spirit appears in a bright 
whiteness, and is endued with a perfect tingeing arcanum. Then it is at 
length fit for projection, namely, one part of it upon sixteen parts of an im- 
perfect body, according to the sharpness of the preparation. From thence 
appears shining and most excellent Luna, as though it had been dug from the 
bowels of the earth. 

CHAPTER XIL 

General Instruction concerning the Arcanum of Vitriol and 
THE Red Tincture to be extracted from it.* 

Vitriol is a very noble mineral among the rest, and was held always in 
highest estimation by philosophers, because the Most High God has adorned 
it with wonderful gifts. They have veiled its arcanum in enigmatical figures 
like the following : ** Thou shalt go to the inner parts of the earth, and 
by rectification thou shalt find the occult stone, a true medicine." By the earth 
they understood the Vitriol itself; and by the inner parts of the earth its 
sweetness and redness, because in the occult part of the Vitriol lies hid a 
subtle, noble, and most fragrant juice, and a pure oil. The method of its 
production is not to be approached by calcination or by distillation. For it 
must not be deprived on any account of its green colour. If it were, it would 
at the same time lose its arcanum and its power. Indeed, it should be observed 
at this point that minerals, and also vegetables and other like things which shew 
greenness without, contain within themselves an oil red like blood, which is 
their arcanum. Hence it is clear that the distillations of the druggists are useless, 
vain, foolish, and of no value, because these people do not know how to 
extract the bloodlike redness from vegetables. Nature herself is wise, and 
turns all the waters of vegetables to a lemon colour, and after that into an oil 
which is very red like blood. The reason why this is so slowly accomplished 
arises from the too great haste of the ignorant operators who distil it, which 
causes the greenness to be consumed. They have not learnt to strengthen 
Nature with their own powers, which is the mode whereby that noble green 

• The arcanum of vitriol is the oil of vitriol. Thus : after the aquosity has been removed in coction from vitriol, 
the spirit is elicited by the application of greater heat. The vitriol then comes over pure in the form of water. This 
water is combined with the ca^t mortuum left by the process, and on again separating in a haiiuu$H maris^ the phleg> 
matic part passes oif, and the oil, or the arcanum of vitriol, remains at the bottom of the vessel.— /(m£ 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



6i 



colour ought to be rectified into redness of itself. An example of this is white 
wine digestingf itself into a lemon colour ; and in process o{ time the green 
colour of the grape is of itself turned into the red which underlies the ccerulean. 
The greenness therefore of the vegetables and minerals being lost by the in- 
capacity of the operators, the essence also and spirit of the oil and of the 
balsam, which is noblest among arcana, will also perish. 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Special Instruction concerning the Process of Vitriol 
FOR the Red Tincture. 

Vitriol contains within itself many muddy and viscous imperfections. 
Therefore its greenness* must be often extracted with water, and rectified until 
it puts off all the impurities of earth. When all these rectifications are finished, 
take care above all that the matter shall not be exposed to the sun, for this 
turns its greenness pale, and at the same time absorbs the arcanum. Let it 
be kept covered up in a warm stove so that no dust may defile it. Afterwards 
let it be digested in a closed glass vessel for the space of several months, or 
until different colours and deep redness shew themselves. Still you must not 
suppose that by this process the redness is sufficiently fixed. It must, in 
addition, be cleansed from the interior and accidental defilements of the earth, 
in the following manner : — It must be rectified with acetum until the earthy 
defilement is altogether removed, and the dregs are taken away» This is now 
the true and best rectification of its tincture, from which the blessed oil is to be 
extracted. From this tincture, which is carefully enclosed in a glass vessel, 
an alembic afterwards placed on it and luted so that no spirit may escape^ the 
spirit of this oil must be extracted by distillation over a mild and slow fire- 
This oil is much pleasanter and sweeter than any aromatic balsam of the drug- 
sellers, being entirely free from all acridity, t There will subside in the bottom 
of the cucurbite some very white earthy shining and glittering like snow. This 
keep, and protect from all dust. This same earth is altogether separated from 
its redness. 

Thereupon follows the greatest arcanum, that is Xo say, the Supercelestial 
Marriage of the Soul, consummately prepared and washed by the blood of the 



• So long as the xiridhy or greenness or vitriol siilnists ther^mt it is of a soft quality and substance. But if h be 
exoocted so thai it i& deprived of its moisture, it is thereby changed into n hard stone from which ev«o lire can be struck* 
When the moisture is evaporated from vitriol, the stdphur which it coatains predoounate^ over the saltj and the vitriol 
turns Tss^.—De Ffstilitate, Tract I. 

\ The diAgnmis of vitriol is concerned with it both in Medicine and Alchemy^ In Medicine it is a panunount 
remedy. In Akhemy it hss many additional purpoft»« The Art of Medicine and Alchemy consists in the preparmtion 
of vitriol, for it is worthless \n its crude state. It is like unto wood, out of which it is possible to carve anything. Three 
kinds of oil are extracted from vitriol— a red oil, by distillation in a retort after an alchemistic method, and this is the 
most acid of all substances, and has also a corrosive quality— also a green and a white oil, distilled from crude vitriol 
by descension,— /?/ Vttrioh* Nor let it be regarded a& absurd that we assign such great virtues to v-itriol, for therein 
recides, secret and hidden, a certain peculiar golden forces not corporeal but spiritual, which excellent and admirable 
virtue exists in greater potency and certainty therein than it docs in gold. When this golden spirit of vitriol is vota* 
tilized and separated from iu impurities, so that the es'ience alone remains^ it is hka unto potable gold.— /># MotHm 
Amgmtiumt Mttkodut II,, c i, 



62 The Hermetic and Aldumical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Iamb, with its own splendid, shining, and purified body. This is the true 
supercelestial marnage by which life is prolonged to the last and predestined 
day. In this way, then^ the soul and spirit of the Vitriol » which are its blood, 
are joined with its purified body, that they may be for eternity inseparable. 
Take, therefore^ this our foliated earth in a glass phiah Into it pour gradually 
its own oil. The body will receive and embrace Its soul ; since the body is 
affected with extreme desire for the soul, and the soul is most perfectly 
delighted with the embrace of the body. Place this conjunction in a furnace of 
arcana, and keep it there for forty days. When these have expired you will 
have a most absolute oil of wondrous perfection, in which Mercury and any 
other of the imperfect metals are turned into gold. 

Now let us turn our attention to its multiplication. Take the corporal 
Mercur)^, in the proportion of two parts ; pour it over three parts, equal in 
weight, of the aforesaid oil, and let them remain together for forty days. By 
this proportion of weight and this order the multiplication becomes infinite. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Concerning jhe Secrets and Arcana of Antimonv, for the Red 
Tincture, with a view to Transmutation. 

Antimony is the true bath of gold. Philosophers call it the examiner and 
the stilanx. Poets say that in this bath Vulcan washed Phcebus* and purified 
him from all dirt and imperfection. It is produced from the purest and noblest 
Mercury and Sulphur, under the genus of vitriol, in metallic form and bright- 
ness. Some philosophers call it the White Lead of the Wise Men, or simply 
the Lead. Take, therefore, of Antimony, the very best of its kind, as much 
as you will. Dissolve this in its own aquafortis, and throw it into cold water, 
adding a little of the crocus of Mars, so that it may sink to the bottom of the 
vessel as a sediment, for otherwise it does not throw off its dregs. After it 
has been dissolved in this way it will have acquired supreme beauty. Let It 
be placed in a glass vessel, closely fastened on all sides with a verj' thick lute, 
or else in a stone bocia, and mix w^ith it some calcined tutia, sublimated to 
the perfect degree of fire. It must be carefully guarded from liquefying, 
because with too great heat it breaks the glass. From one pound of this 
Antimony a sublimation is made, perfected tor a space of two days. Place 
this sublimated substance in a phial that it may touch the water with its third 
part, in a luted vessel, so that the spirit may not escape. Let it be suspended 
over the tripod of arcana, and let the work be urged on at first with a slow fire 
equal to the sun's heat at midsummer. Then at length on the tenth day let it 
be gradually increased. For with too great heat the glass vessels are broken, 
and sometimes even the furnace goes to pieces. While the vapour is ascending 
different colours appear. Let the fire be moderated until a red matter is seen. 
Afterwards dissolve in very sharp Acetum, and throw away the dregs. Let 
the Acetum be abstracted and let it be again dissolved in common distilled water* 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



63 



This again must be abstracted, and the sediment distilled with a very strong fire 
in a glass vessel closely shut. The whole body of the Antimony will ascend as 
a very red oil, like the colour of a ruby, and will flow into the receiver, drop by 
drop, with a most fragrant smell and a ver>^ sweet taste** This is the supreme 
arcanum of the philosophers in Antimony, which they account most highly among 
the arcana of oils. Then, lastly, let the oil of Sol be made in the following 
way : — Take of the purest Sol as much as you will, and dissolve it in rectified 
spirit of wine. Let the spirit be abstracted several times, and an equal number 
of times let it be dissolved again. Let the last solution be kept with the spirit 
of wine, and circulated for a month. Afterwards let the volatile gold and the 
spirit of wine be distilled three or four times by means of an alembic, so that it may 
flow down into the receiver and be brought to its supreme essence. To half an 
ounce of this dissolved gold let one ounce of the Oil of Antimony be added. 
This oil embraces it in the heat of the bath, so that it docs not easily let it go, 
even if the spirit of wine be extracted. In this way you will have the supreme 
mystery and arcanum of Nature, to which scarcely any equal can be assigned 
in the nature of things. Let these two oils in combination be shut up together 
in a phial after the manner described, hung on a tripod for a philosophical 
month, and warmed with a very gentle fire ; although, if the fire be regulated 
in due proportion this operation is concluded in thirty-one days, and brought 
to perfection. By this, Mercury and any other imperfect metals acquire the 
perfection of gold, 

CHAPTER XV. 

Concerning the Projection to be made by the Mystery 
AND Arcanum of Antimony. 

No precise weight can be assigned in this work of projection, though the 
tincture itself may be extracted from a certain subject, in a defined proportion, 
and with fitting appliances* For instance, that Medicine tinges sometimes 
thirty* forty, occasionally even sixty, eighty, or a hundred parts of the im- 
perfect metal. So, then, the whole business hinges chiu% on the purification 
of the Medicine and the industrj^ of the operator, and, next, on the greater or 
lesser cleanliness and purity of the imperfect body taken in hand. For 
instance, one Venus is more pure than another ; and hence it happens that no 
one fixed weight can be specified in projection. This alone is worth noting, 
that if the operator happens to have taken too much of the tincture, he can 
correct this mistake by adding more of the imperfect metal. But if there be 
too much of the subject, so that the powers of the tincture are weakened, this 
error is easily remedied by a cinentlum, or by cementations, or by ablutions 



* Antlniony can be mnde into a pap with the urater of vitriol, and then purified by ul ftmnioaiac, and tn this nym* 
ner there may be obtained fri^m it a ihick purple or reddish liquor. Thii» h, oil of antimony, ajid it h»A nuiny virtues, — 
CkirmrgtA Majpta, Lib, V. Take three pound* of antimony arwi ai mudi of sal gcmm«^ Distil them together in a 
retort for three natural days, ftnd so you will ha\"e a red oil, which has incredible healinf power in cases of oiberwifie 
incarabk wounds.— Cit/mnpjpM Mirn^r, Tract 11.^ c< 11. 



64 The Hennetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 



in crude Antimony. There is nothing at this stage which need delay the 
operator ; only let him put before himself a fact which has been passed over 
by the philosophers, and by some studiously veiled, namely, that in projections 
there must be a revivification^ that is to say, an animation of imperfect bodies — 
nay, so to speak, a spiritualisation ; concerning which some have said that 
their metals are no common ones, since they live and have a souL 

Animation is Produced in the Following Way. 

Take of Venus, wrought into small plates, as much as you will, ten, 
twenty, or forty pounds. Let these be incrusted with a pulse made of arsenic 
and calcined tartar, and calcined in their own vessel for twenty-four hours. 
Then at length let the Venus be pulverised, washed, and thoroughly purified. 
Let the calcination with ablution be repeated three or four times. In this way 
it is purged and purified from its thick greenness and from its own impure 
sulphur. You will have to be on your guard against calcinations made with 
common sulphur. For whatever is good in the metal is spoilt thereby, and 
what is bad becomes worse. To ten marks of this purged Venus add one of 
pure Luna. But in order that the work of the Medicine may be accelerated 
by projection! and may more easily penetrate the imperfect body, and drive 
out all portions which are opposed to the nature of Luna, this is accomplished 
by means o( a perfect ferment. For the work is defiled by means of an impure 
Sulphur, so that a cloud is stretched out over the surface of the transmuted 
substance, or the metal is mixed with the loppings of the Sulphur and may be 
cast away therewith. But if a projection of a red stone is to be made, with a 
view to a red transmutation, it must first fall on gold, afterwards on silver, or 
on some other metal thoroughly purified, as we have directed above. From 
thence arises the most perfect gold. 

CHAPTER XVL 

Concerning the Universal Matter of the Philosophers* Stone. 

After the mortification of %'egetables, they are transmuted, by the concur- 
rence of two minerals, such as Sulphur and Salt, into a mineral nature, so that 
at length they themselves become perfect minerals. So it is that in the 
mineral burrows and caves of the earth, vegetables are found which, in the 
long succession of time, and by the continuous heat of sulphur, put off the 
vegetable nature and assume that of the mineral. This happens, for the most 
part, where the appropriate nutriment is taken away from vegetables of this 
kind, so that they are afterwards compelled to derive their nourishment from 
the sulphur and salts of the earth, until what was before vegetable passes over 
into a perfect mineral. From this mineral state, too, sometimes a perfect 
metal he essence arises, and this happens by the progress of one degree 
into another. 

But let us return to the Philosophers* Stone. The matter of this, as 
certain writers have mentioned, is above all else difficult to discover and 



1 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



6s 



abstruse to understand. The method and most certain rule for finding- out 
this, as well as other subjects — what they embrace or are able to effect— is a 
careful examination of the root and seed by which they come to our knowledg^e. 
For this, before all things else, a consideration of principles is absolutely 
necessary; and also of the manner in which Nature proceeds from imper- 
fection to the end of perfection. Now, for this consideration it is well to 
have it thoroug"hly understood from the first that all thing's created by Nature 
consist of three primal elements, namely, natural Mercur)% Sulphur, and Salt 
in combination, so that in some substances they are volatile, in others fixed. 
Wherever corporal Salt is mixed with spiritual Mercur>' and animated Sulphur 
into one body, then Nature bcg-ins to work, in those subterranean places 
which serve for her vessels, by means of a separating fire. By this the thick 
and impure Sulphur is separated from the pure, the earth is segregated from 
the Salt, and the clouds from the Mercur\', while those purer parts are 
preserved, which Nature again welds together into a pure geogamic body. 
This operation is esteemed by the Magi as a mixture and conjunction by the 
uniting of three constituents, body, soul, and spirit. When this union is 
completed there results from it a pure Mercury. Now if this, when flowing 
down through its subterranean passages and veins, meets with a chaotic 
Sulphur, the Mercury is coagulated by it according to the condition of the 
Sulphur, It is, however, still volatile, so that scarcely in a hundred years is it 
transformed into a metal. Hence arose the vulgar idea that Mercurv' and 
Sulphur are the matter of the metals, as is certainly reported by miners. It is 
not, however, common Mercury and common Sulphur which are the matter of 
the metals, but the Mercury and the Sulphur of the philosophers are incor- 
porated and inborn in perfect metals, and in the forms of them, so that they 
never fly from the fire, nor are they depraved by the force of the corruption 
caused by the elements. It is true that by the dissolution of this natural 
mixture our Mercury is subdued, as all the philosophers say. Under this 
form of words our Mercury comes to be drawn from perfect bodies and from 
the forces of the earthly planets. This is what Hermes asserts in the following 
terms: **The Sun and the Moon are the roots of this Art." The Son of 
Hamuel says that the Stone of the philosophers is water coagulated, namely, 
in Sol and Luna. From this it is clearer than the sun that the material of the 
Stone is nothing else but Sol and Luna. This is confirmed by the fact that 
like produces like. We know that there are only two Stones, the white and 
the red. There are also two matters of the Stone, Sol and Luna, formed 
together in a proper marriage, both natural and artificial. Now, as we see 
that the man or the woman, without the seed of both, cannot generate, in the 
same way our man, Sol, and his wife, Luna, cannot conceive, or do anything 
in the way of generation, without the seed and sperm of both. Hence the 
philosophers gathered that a third thing was necessar)^ namely, the animated 
seed of both, the man and the woman, without which they judged that the 
whole of their work was fruitless and in vain. Such a sperm is Mercur)', 

F 



66 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

which, by the natural conjunction of both bodies, Sol and Luna, receives their 
nature into itself in union. Then at length, and not before, the work is fit for 
congress, ingress, and generation, by the masculine and feminine power and 
virtue. Hence the philosophers have said that this same Mercury is composed 
of body, spirit, and soul, and that it has assumed the nature and property of 
all elements. Therefore, with their most powerful genius and intellect, they 
asserted their Stone to be animal. They even called it their Adam, who car- 
ries his own invisible Eve hidden in his body, from that moment in which they 
were united by the power of the Supreme God, the Maker of all creatures. For 
this reason it may be said that the Mercury of the Philosophers is none other 
than their most abstruse, compounded Mercury, and not the common Mercury. 
So then they have wisely said to the sages that there is in Mercury whatever 
wise men seek. Almadir, the philosopher, says • "We extract our Mercury 
from one perfect body and two perfect natural conditions incorporated 
together, which indeed puts forth externally its perfection, whereby it is able 
to resist the fire, so that its internal imperfection may be protected by the 
external perfections." By this passage of the sagacious philosopher is under- 
stood the Adamic matter, the limbus of the microcosm,* and the homogeneous, 
unique matter of the philosophers. The sayings of these men, which we have 
before mentioned, are simply golden, and ever to be held in the highest 
esteem, because they contain nothing superfluous or without force. Sum- 
marily, then, the matter of the Philosophers' Stone is none other than a fiery 
and perfect Mercury extracted by Nature and Art ; that is, the artificially pre- 
pared and true hermaphrodite Adam, and the microcosm. That wisest of the 
philosophers, Mercurius, making the same statement, called the Stone an 
orphan. Our Mercur>', therefore, is the same which contains in itself all the 
perfections, force, and virtues of the Sun, which also runs through all the 
streets and houses of all the planets, and in its own rebirth has acquired the 
force of things above and things below ; to the marriage of which it is to be 
compared, as is clear from the whiteness and the redness combined in it. 

CHAPTER XVH. 

Concerning the Preparation of the Matter for the Philosophic 

Stone. 

What Nature principally requires is that its own philosophic man should 
be brought into a mercurial substance, so that it may be born into the philo- 



• Man himself was created from that which is termed limbus. This limbus contained the potenc>' and nature of all 
creatures. Hence, man himself is called the microcosmus, or world in miniature.— //ir Grntratione Siultprum. 
Man was fashioned out of the limbus. and this limbus is the universal world. — Paramimm Aliud^ Lib. II., c a. 
The limbus was the first matter of man. . . . Whosoever knows the limbus knows also what man is. Whatsoever 
the limbus is, that also is man. - Paramirum Aliud^ Lib. IV. There Is a dual limbus, man, the lesser limbus. and 

that Great Limbus from which he was produced— /^r PotUigra^ s. v. dr Liinbo. The limbus is the seed out of which 
all creatures are produced and grow, as the tree comes forth from its own special seed. The limbus has its ground in 
the word of God.— /^/V/. The limbus of Adam was heaven and earth, water and air. Therefore, man also remains 
in the limbus, and contains in himself heaven and earth, air and water, and tliese things he also himself is. — Paragmnum 
Alteruffiy Tract II, 



The Aurora of the Philosophers. 



67 



sophic Stone. Moreover, it should be remarked that those common pre- 
parations of Geber, Albertus Mag^nus, Thomas Aquinas, Rupescissa, Poiy- 
dorus, and such men, are nothing more than some particular solulions, sub- 
limations, and calcinations, having no reference to our universal substance, 
which needs only the most secret fire of the philosophers. Let the fire and 
Azoth therefore suffice for you. From the fact that the philosophers make 
mention of certain preparations, such as putrefaction, distillation, sublimation, 
calcination, coagulation, dealbation, rubification, ceration^ fixation, and the 
like, you should understand that in their universal substance, Nature herself 
fulfils all ihe operations in the matter spoken of, and not the onerator, only in 
a philosophical vessel, and with a similar fire, but not common fire. The 
white and the red spring from one root without any intermediary. It is 
dissolved by itself, it copulates by itself, grows white, grows red, is made 
crocus-coloured and black by itself, marries itself and conceives in itself. 
It is therefore to be decocted, to be baked, to be fused ; it ascends, and it 
descends. All these operations are a single operation and produced by the fire 
alone. Still, some philosophers, nevertheless, have, by a highly graduated 
essence of wine, dissolved the body oi Sol, and rendered it volatile, so that it 
should ascend through an alembic, thinking that this is the true volatile matter 
of the philosophers, though it is not so. And although it be no contemptible 
arcanum to reduce this perfect metallic body into a volatile, spirilual substance, 
yet they are wrong in their separation of the elements. This process of the 
monks, such as Lully, Richard of England, Rupescissa, and the rest, is 
erroneous. By this process they thought that they were going to separate 
gold after this fashion into a subtle, spiritual, and elementarj^ power, each by 
itself, and afterwards by circulation and rectification to combine them again 
in one— but in vain. For although one element may, in a certain sense, be 
separated from another, yet, nevertheless, every element separated in this way 
can again be separated into another element, but these elements cannot after- 
wards by circulation in a pelican, or by distillation, be again brought back into 
one ; but they always remain a certain volatile matter, and aurum potabile, as 
they themselves call it. The reason why they could not compass their intention 
is that Nature refuses to be in this way drag^ged asunder and separated by 
man's disjunctions, as by earthly glasses and instruments. She alone knows her 
own operations and the weights of the elements, the separations, rectifications, 
and copulations of which she brings about without the aid of any operator or 
manual artifice, provided only the matter be contained in the secret fire and in 
its proper occult vessel. The separation of the elements, therefore, is 
impossible by man. It may appear to take place, but it is not true, 
whatever may be said by Raymond Lully, and of that famous English golden 
work which he is falsely supposed to have accomplished. Nature her- 
self has within herself the proper separator, who again joins together 
what he has put asunder, without the aid of man. She knows best the 
proportion of everj' element, which man does not know, however mis- 
Fa 



68 The Hermetic mid Aldiemkal Writings of Paracelsus, 



leading- writers romance in their frivolous and false recipes about this 
volatile gold. 

This is the opinion of the philosophers, that when they have put their 
matter into the more secret fire, and when with a moderated philosophical heat 
it is cherished on every side, beginning to pass into corruption, it grows black. 
This operation they term putrefaction* and they call the blackness by the name 
of the Crow's Head. The ascent and descent thereof they term distillation, 
ascensioHt and descension. The exsiccation they call coagulation ; and the 
dealbation they call calcination ; while because it becomes fluid and soft in 
the heat they make mention of ce ration. When it ceases to ascend and re- 
\ mains liquid at the bottom, they say fixation is present. 

In this manner it is the terms o^ philosophical operations are to be 
understood, and not otherwise. 



CHAPTER XVIII, 

Concerning Instruments and the Philosophic Vessel, 

Sham philosophers have misunderstood the occult and secret philosophic 
vessel, and worse is that which is said by Aristoteles the Alchemist (not the 
famous Greek Academic Philosopher), giving it out that the matter is to be 
decocted in a triple vessel. Worst of all is that wiiich is said by another, 
namely, that the matter in its first separation and first degree requires a 
metallic vessel; in Its second degree of coagulation and dealbation of its 
earth a glass vessel ; and in the third degree, for fixation, an earthen vessel. 
Nevertheless* hereby the philosophers understand one vessel alone in all the 
operations up to the perfection of the red stone* Since, then, our matter is 
our root for the white and the red, necessarily our vessel must be so fashioned 
that the matter in it may be governed by the heavenly bodies. For invisible 
celestial influences and the impressions of the stars are in the very^ first degree 
necessary for the work. Otherwise it would be impossible for the Oriental, 
Chaldean, and Egyptian stone to be realised. By this Anaxag^oras knew the 
powers o^ the whole firmament » and foretold that a great stone would descend 
from heaven to earth, which actually happened after his death* To the 
Cabalists our vessel is perfectly well known, because it must be made 
according to a truly g^eometrical proportion and measure, and from a definite 
quadrature of the circle, so that the spirit and the soul of our matter, separated 
from their body, maybe able to raise this vessel with themselves in proportion 
to the altitude of heaven. If the vessel be wider, narrower, higher, or lower 
than is fitting, and than the dominating operating spirit and soul desire, the 
heat of our secret philosophic fire (which is, indeed, very severe), will violently 
excite the matter and urge it on to excessive operation, so that the vessel is 
shivered into a thousand pieces, with imminent danger to the body and even 
the life of the operator. On the other hand, if it be of greater capacity than 
is required in due proportion for the heat to have eff"ect on the matter, the 



The Aurora of the Philosophers, 



69 



work will be wasted and thrown away* So, then, our philosophic vessel must 
be made with the greatest care. What the material of the vessel should be is 
understood only by those who» in the first solution of our fixed and perfected 
matter have brought that matter to its own primal quintessence. Enough has 
been said on this point. 

The operator must also v^ery accurately note wiiat, In its first solution, 
the matter sends forth and rejects from itself. 

The method of describing the form of the vessel is difficult. It should be 
such as Nature requires^ and it must be sought out and investigated from 
ever)' possible source, so that, from the height of the philosophic heaven, 
elevated above the philosophic earth, it may be able to operate on the fruit of its 
own earthly body. It should have this form, too, in order that the separation and 
purification of the elements^ when the fire drives one from the other, may be 
able to be accomplished, and that each may have power to occupy the place 
to which it adheres ; and also that the sun and the other planets may exercise 
their operations around the elemental earth, while their course in their circuit 
is neither hindered nor agitated with too swift a motion, in all these particu- 
lars which have been mentioned it must have a proper proportion of rotundity 
and of height. 

The instruments for the first purification of mineral bodies are fusing- 
vessels, bellows, tongs, cape!s, cupels, tests, cementator}^ vessels, cineritiums, 
cucurbites, bocias for aquafortis and aqua regia ; and also the appliances 
which are required for projection at the climax of the work. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Concerning the Secret Fire of the Philosophers. 

This is a well-known sententious saying of the philosophers, ** Let fire 
and Azoc suffice thee." Fire alone is the whole work and the entire art. 
Moreover, they who build their fire and keep their vessel in that heat are in 
error. In vain some have attempted it w'ith the heat of horse dung. By 
the coal fire, without a medium, they have sublimated their matter, but they 
have not dissolved it. Others have got their heat from lamps, asserting that 
this is the secret fire of the philosophers for making their Slone. Some have 
placed it in a bath, first of all in heaps of ants' eggs; others in juniper ashes. 
Some have sought the ^x^ in quicklime, in tartar, vitriol, nitre, etc. Others, 
again, have sought it in boiling water. Thomas Aquinas speaks falsely of 
this fire, saying that God and the angels cannot do without this fiie, but use 
it daily. What blasphemy is this ! Is it not a manifest lie that God is not 
able to do without the elemental heat of boiling water? All the heats excited 
by those means which have been mentioned are utterly useless for our work 
Take care not to be misled by Arnold de Villa Xova, who has written on the. 
subject of the coal fire, for in this matter he will deceive you. 

Almadir says that the invisible rays of our lire of themselves suffice. 



70 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Another cites, as an illustration, that the heavenly heat by its reflections 
tends to the coagulation and perfection of Mercury', just as by its continual 
motion it tends to the generation of metals. Again, says this same authority, 
**Make a fire, vaporous, digesting, as for cooking, continuous, but not 
volatile or boiling, enclosed, shut off from the air, not burning, but altering 
and penetrating. Now, in truth, I have mentioned every mode of fire and of 
exciting heat. If you are a true philosopher you will understand. '^ This is 
what he says. 

Salmanazar remarks: **Ours is a corrosive fire, which brings over our 
vessel an air like a cloud, in which cloud the rays of this fire are hidden. If 
this dew of chaos and this moisture of the cloud fail, a mistake has been 
committed." Again, Alniadir says, that unless the fire has warmed our sun 
with its moisture, by the excrement of the mountain, with a moderate ascent, 
we shall not be partakers either of the Red or the White Stone. 

All these matters shew quite openly to us the occult fire of the wise men. 
Finally, this is the matter of our fire, namely, that it be kindled by the quiet 
spirit of sensible fire, which drives upwards, as it were, the heated chaos from 
the opposite quarter, and above our philosophic matter. This heat, glowing 
above our vessel, must urge it to the motion of a perfect generation, temper- 
ately but continuously, without intermission. 

CHAPTER XX. 
Concerning the Ferment of the Philosophers, and the Weight. 

Philosophers have laboured greatly in the art of ferments and of ferment- 
ations, which seems important above all others. With reference thereto some 
have made a vow to God and to the philosophers that they would never 
divulge its arcanum by similitudes or by parables. 

Nevertheless, Hermes, the father of all philosophers, in the ** Book of the 
Seven Treatises," most clearly discloses the secret of ferments, saying that 
they consist only of their own paste ; and more at length he says that the 
ferment whitens the confection, hinders combustion, altogether retards the 
flux of the tincture, consoles bodies, and amplifies unions. He says, also, that 
this is the key and the end of t^e work, concluding that the ferment is 
nothing but paste, as that of the sun is nothing but sun, and that of the moon 
nothing but moon. Others affirm that the ferment is the soul, and if this be 
not rightly prepared from the magistery, it effects nothing. Some zealots of 
this Art seek the Art in common sulphur, arsenic, tutia, auripigment, vitriol, 
etc., but in vain ; since the substance which is sought is the same as that from 
which it has to be drawn forth. It should be remarked, therefore, that fer- 
mentations of this kind do not succeed according to the wishes of the zealots 
in the way they desire, but, as is clear from what has been said above, simply 
in the way of natural successes. 

But, to come at length to the weight ; this must be noted in two ways. 



The Aurora of the Philotoplters. 



71 



The first is natural, the second artificial. The natural attains its result in the 
earth by Nature and concordance. Of this, Arnold says : If more or less 
earth than Nature requires be added» the soul is suffocated, and no result 
is perceived, nor any fixation. It is the same with the water. If more or less 
of this be taken it will bring a corresponding loss. A superfluity renders the 
matter unduly moist, and a deficiency makes it too dry and too hard. If 
there be over much air present, it is too strongly impressed on the tincture ; it 
there be too little, the body will turn out pallid. In the same way, if the 
fire be too strong, the matter is burnt up ; if it be too slack, it has not the 
power of drjing, nor of dissolving or heating the other elements. In these 
things elemental heat consists. 

Artificial weight is quite occult. It is comprised in the magical art of 
ponderations. Between the spirit, soul, and body, say the philosophers, 
weight consists of Sulphur as the director of the work ; for the soul strongly 
desires Sulphur, and necessarily observes it by reason of its weight. 

You can understand it thus : Our matter is united to a red fixed Sulphur, 
to which a third part of the regimen has been entrusted, even to the ultimate 
degree, so that it may perfect to infinity the operation of the Stone, may 
remain therewith together with its fire, and may consist of a weight equal 
to the matter itself, in and through all, without variation of any degree. 
Therefore, after the matter has been adapted and mixed in its proportionate 
weight, it should be closely shut up with its seal in the vessel of the philoso- 
phers, and committed to the secret fire. In this the Philosophic Sun will rise 
and surge up^ and wi!l illuminate all things that have been looking for his 
light I expecting it with highest hope. 

In these few words we will conclude the arcanum of the Stone, an arcanum 
which is in no way maimed or defective, for which we give God undying 
thanks. Now have we opened to you our treasure, which is not to be paid for 
by the riches of the whole world. 



Here ends the Aurora of the Philosophers, 



CONCERNING THE SPIRITS OF THE PLANETS.* 



PROLOGUE. 

HAVING first of all invoked the name of the Lord Jesus Christ our 
Saviour, we will enter upon this work ; in which we shall not only 
teach how to change any inferior metal into better, as iron into 
copper, copper into silver, and silver into gold, but also to heal all infirmities 
which to the pretentious and presumptuous physicians seems impossible ; and — 
what is more still — to preserve men to a long, healthy, and perfect age. This 
Art was bestowed by the Lord our God, the supreme Creator, graven, as if in 
a book, in the body of the metals from the beginning of Creation to this end, 
that we might diligently learn from them. When, therefore, any man desires 
thoroughly and perfectly to become acquainted with this Art from its veritable 
foundation, it will be necessary that he should learn the same from the Master 
thereof, that is, from God, who created all things ; who also alone knows what 
nature and properties He has placed in every creature. He, therefore, is able 
to teach every one certainly and perfectly ; and from Him we can be taught 
absolutely what he means when he says, **Of Me ye shall learn all things." 
For nothing in Heaven or on earth is found so occult that He who created all 
things does not see through its properties, and know and perceive all. We 
will therefore take Him to be our Master, Operator, and Leader into this 
most veritable Art. Him alone will we imitate, and through Him learn and 
attain to the knowledge of that Nature which He Himself has, with His own 
finger, engendered and written on the bodies of these metals. Hence it will 
come to pass that the Most High Lord God will bless all His creatures in us, 
and will sanctify all our ways, so that in this work we may be able to bring our 
beginning to its desired end, and to attain the deepest joy and charity in our 
hearts. 

But if any one shall follow his own mere private opinion, he will not only 
greatly deceive himself, but also all others who shall cast in their lot with him, 
and will bring them to great trouble. For man is assuredly born in ignorance, 
so that he cannot know or understand anything of himself, but only that 
which he receives from God, and understands from Nature. He who learns 



* This treatise is not included in the Geneva folio, and, both in style and in the method of treatment, it corresponds 
closely to the Aurora. The edition made use of for this translation is the Basle 8vo. of 1570. A considerable portion 
of the work enters into the Paracelsican congeries, entitled De TroHsmutatioMibus Mttaltorumy Frankfort, 1C81. 



Concerning the Spirits of the Planets. 



73 



nothing^ from these is like the heathen teachers and philosophers, who follow 
the subtleties and crafts of their own inventions and opinions. Such teachers 
are Aristotle, Hippocrates, Avicenna, Galen, and the rest, who based all their 
arts simply upon their own opinions. Even if, at any time, they learnt 
anything" from Nature, they destroyed it again with their own fantasies, 
dreams, and inventions, before they came to the final issue. By means of 
these, then, and their followers, nothing" perfect can be discovered. 

This it is which has moved and incited us to write a special book concern- 
ing Alchemy, basing it not on men, but on Nature herself, and upon those 
virtues and powers which God, with His own finger, has impressed upon 
metals. The initiator of this impression was Mercurius Trismegistus. He is 
not without due cause called the father of all wise men, and of all who 
followed this Art with love and earnest desire. He teaches and proves that 
God is the only author, cause, and origin of all creatures in this Art.* But he 
does not attribute the power and virtue of God to creatures or to visible 
things, as did the heathen mentioned above, and others like them. 

Seeing, then, that ali art must be learned from the Trinity, that is, from 
God the Father, God the Son, Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Ghost, three 
distinct persons, but one God, we will aJso divide this our alchemical work 
into three short treatises. In the first of these we will lay down what it is 
which the Art itself embraces, and what is the property and nature of every 
metal. Secondly, by what method a man may work and bring similar powers 
and forces of metals to a successful issue ; and, thirdly, what tinctures are to 
be produced from the Sun and from the Moon. 



* AJl arts which flourUh on this earth are divine, all are from God ; from no other principle do they originate. 
The Holy Spirit is the entjirger of the light of Nature, . . « Man of himself can discover nothing, , . , \Vh^\ 
things soever are found by the enlargement of this light of Nature within us, the &anke does the devil »cck to corrupt, 
adulterate, and convert into Ealscliood. Thu^ are all artA and operations corrupted at thii day. Even ko is Alchemy 
debased and given over to tying tongues and depraved ^ruf ts%on,— Pamgnuivm^ Tract IV. 



CHAPTER I. 
Concerning Simple Fire. 

IN the first place, it is necessary to state clearly what this Art comprises, 
what is its subject, and what its peculiarities. 
First and chiefly, the principal subject of this Art is fire, which always 
exists in one and the same property and mode of operation, nor can it receive 
its life from anything else.* It possesses, therefore, a state and power, common 
to all fires which lie hid in secret, of vivifying, just as the sun is appointed by 
God, and heats all things in the world, both occult, apparent, and manifest, as 
the spheres of Mars, Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, and the Moon, which 
can shine only as they borrow their light from the Sun, and are in themselves 
dead. When, however, they are lighted up, as said above, they live and work 
according to their special properties. But the sun receives light from no 
other source than God Himself, Who rules it, so that in the sun God Himself 
is burning and shining. Just so is it with this Art.f The fire in the furnace may 
be compared to the sun. It heats the furnace and the vessels, just as the sun 
heats the vast universe. For as nothing can be produced in the world without 
the sun, so also in this Art nothing can be produced without this simple 
fire. No operation can be completed without it. It is the Great Arcanum of 
Art,t embracing all things which are comprised therein, neither can it be com- 
prehended in anything else. It abides by itself, and needs nothing ; but all 
others which stand in need of this can get fruition of it and have life from it, 
wherefore, first of all, we have undertaken that this shall be made clear. 

CHAPTER II. 

Concerning the Multiplicity of Fire from whence spring the 
varieties of Metals. 

Having first written concerning the simple fire which lives and subsists 
per scy it now remains to speak of a manifold spirit or fire which is the cause 
of variety or diversity of creatures, so that not one can be found exactly like 

* Fire is not to be regarded as an element, and so there is a distinction between fire and the firmament, which 
latter is an element. Fire is a matter which cooks and disintegrates, reducing into the ultimate matter, and, in this 
sense, fire and death are alike. For fire, like death, consumes and devours everything. Therefore, fire cannot be an 
element, but it can be, and is, a visible and sensible death. The other death is invbible, and is seen by no man. — 
Lib. Met tor urn y c. i. 

t The congeries Dt TranstHutationibus yteteUlcmm^ to which reference has already been made, gives the following 
variation in the reading at this point : Just so in the Spagyric art is this fire of athanor and the secret fire of the 
philosophers, which heats the furnace, the sphere of the vessel, and the fire of the matter, just as the sun is seen to 
operate in the whole world. 

X All arcana derive from the firmament. — Fragmenta Modus Phtirmacandi^ Lib. II., Tract i. But that fire 

which is an element b the firmament, and the stars are the fruits thereof.— Z.ti^. Mtttorum^ c i. 



Concerning Ote Spirits of the Planets. 



75 



another and identical in every part. This may be seen in the case of metals 
where no one has another exactly like itself. The Sun produces gold ; the Moon 
another and widely different metal, namely, silver ; Mars, another, namely, 
iron ; Jupiter, tin ; Venus, copper; and Saturn yet another, namely, lead; so 
that all these are unlike. In the same way does it hold good with men and 
other creatures, and the cause of this diversity is the manifoldness i:il fire. 
For example, the Venter Equinus produces one kind of creature through the 
moderate heat generated by its corruption ; the Balneum Mtiris produces 
another ; ashes another; sand, in like manner, another; the flame of fire another; 
coals another, and so on. This variety of creatures is not produced by the first 
simple fire, but from the regimen of the elements, which is various » not from 
the son, but from the courses of the seven planets. And this is the reason why 
the universe contains no likeness amongst its individuals. For as the heat is 
changed every hour and minute, so all other things var>% For this transmu- 
tation takes place in the elements^ on the bodies whereof it is impressed by this 
fire. Where there is no great mixture of the elements, Sol is produced ; where 
it is a little more dense, Luna ; where still more so, Venus ; and thus according 
to the diversity of mixtures are produced different metals, so that no metal 
appears in its mineral exactly like another. It should be known, therefore, that 
this variety of metal is occasioned by the mixture of the elements, because that the 
spirits of these elements are found to be diverse and without likeness : whereas* 
if they were born of simple fire they would be so much alike that one could not 
be distinguished from another. But the manifold fire intervening, variety' of 
form is introduced among creatures. Hence it may be easily gathered why so 
many and such varied forms of metals are found, and why no one is like 
another.* 

CHAPTER III. 
Concerning the Spirit or Tincture of Sol. 
Let us now come to the spirits of the planets, or of the metals. The 
spirit or tincture of Sol took its beginning from a pure, subtle, and perfect fire, 



* That fire, tbeOf b mamifoicl which b varied according to the divenlty of the subject wlit»^to it Dow«, and by 
means whereof it is aftcrwaunds kindled in other &ubjeci:s, oa th« fire of Ashe^, sand, th« bath, filings, etc., lias a medi- 
ated heat flowing from an immediate source into the subject-matter of the instrument, oiul from hence tnto the matter 
iitulcrlying the Art> In that manifold fire there is a dtfTcrence of position* This h, for the reason that nothing in the 
riatarc of things can be: seen which is In all respects like to any other thing, though boih come under the same species, 
nay« though both may be members in ihe same imlividuaU One metal produces gold from that which generates silver ; 
another brings forth the metal of Saturn, of Venu^ or of Man. Each OfW Of these is varied according to the diffetence 
of the place whence it proceeded and was created. No two men, no two members of the same body, no two 
leavcft of the satne tree, are found exactly alike : and so of the rtsx. B'u>imilarity proceeds not from the jfimt fire of 
created things, but from the di£fcrijig rule over the elements by means of the planets, and not by ijie sun. Ever)' 
moment, by iixl* dispoaitton of things, the heat in the elemcntiti ^ivHca, and at the same time the form of decompoAed 
things from their compounds^ though not from the dimples. Where the ifiiAturc of the dements is not *u grtat» there 
is generated Sol ; where it is a little greater, and, Ics* pure, is generated Luna ; from that which U still more imperfect, 
Venus ; and &o of the rest, according to the mixture of the dements, the mineral of each metal is not like another, nor 
do the spirits of them in all respects agree one with the other. If they were generated from the simple fire aloue, with* 
but the interventioo of the manifold, no distinction of forms could occur either in metals or in any other created thitig»« 
Why there are in use no more than se^-en metals, of whicli six are solid and the seventh fluid and thin, is explained in 
adept pbilc»iophy but not in Alchemy.— />* Tratummtttiiffhi^HS MtitUifirum^ c, 3, But this statement concerning 
the seventh Huidic metal seems to be at variance with other teaching of Paracelsus, to which a congeries that has been 
subrtect to editing must naturally defer. 



76 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

for which reason it far surpasses all the other spirits and tinctures of the 
metals* It remains constantly and fixed in the fire, nor does it fly therefrom, 
nor is consumed by it, but rather by its ag^ency it becomes clearer, purer, and 
more beautiful. Nothing either hot or cold can injure it, or any other accident, 
as they can injure the other spirits or tinctures oi metals, and for this reason : 
that the body which it once assumes it defends from all accidents and diseases, 
and enables it to sustain the fire without injur}^ This body has not such 
power and virtue in itself; but derives it from the spirit afone which is shut 
up within it. For we know with reg'ard to the body of Mercun' that it cannot 
sustain or endure the hre, but flies from it ; but when in Sol it does not fly ofl' 
but remains hxed and constant, this affords a most certain proof that it receives 
such a constancy from the spirit or tincture of SoL* If, therefore, this spirit can 
be in Mercury, any one can infer that it would have some similar effect in the 
bodies of men when it is received thereiii. \n our Chirurgia Magna we have 
said concerning the tincture oi So! that it will not only restore and preserve 
from weaknesses one who uses it, but also conserve him for a long and healthy 
life.t In like manner^ the strength and virtue of other metals may be known 
from true experience, not from the w^isdom of men and of the world, which is 
foolishness with God, and with His trutli ; and all who build and rest their hope 
on that wisdom are miserably deceived, 

CHAPTER IV. 

Concerning the Spirit and Tincture of Luna. 

After having spoken with sufficient clearness concerning the tincture of Sol, 
it remains to put forward something about the tincture of Luna, and of the 
White Tincture which, in like manner, is produced from the perfect spirit, 
though it be less perfect than the spirit of Sol \ but, nevertherless, it excels in 
purity and subtlety all the other tinctures of the metals which follow it in order 
This, indeed, is well known to all who handle Luna, even rustics. It does not 



• II is well imdentood ihat the body of Sol Is Merctuy^ wKkh cannot at all stand iHe fire, but Jlces from it*—/?/ 
TranxmuiatioHtbui MetnUeirum^ c. lo. 

t IiJ Lhe cotleciion of treatises to which reference b here niade, there is ihc follDmng process for the manufactim: 
of ii tincture of gold :• Let the body be first deprived of iLs metaltic nnd malleable iiaturc ; that is to say, let it be 
corrupted ; then let the residue be cleansed with sweet water, and I he colour extracted by mean> of spirit of wine^ when 
the desired tincture will remain at the bottom. To compose the Water of Salt : Take very white sail, but not tbat 
which ha* been whitened ariificially ; melt it several limes ; reduce it to on exceedingly subtle powder ; mix it with 
the sap of raphanumH. Shake it. Dl>c|l^ after rc^u^Kluiiont with an equal portion of the sap of blood. Theri again d'tstil 
five timei». Thin plates of gold which ha%'e been purged by antimony arc easily reduced to pov^-der in this water. The 
powder thus prepared must be washed wiih sweet distilled water until it no longer &avours of salt. As the sail does not 
penetrate inlo its lubtiitancc it is cosily removed by ablution. To compose the Spirit of Wine : Take one sextariu^ 
(about a pint) of generous wine ; let ic be poured into a circulnior>' vessel of appropriate sijret that Is, of «uch capacity 
that the wine can be shaken therein. Place it in a Balneum Maris to the depth which the wine occupie^^ and decoct 
for ten da>'s. Seal all apertarcs of the vessels^ io that nothing can escape. Then place in a cucurbiie, and abstract the 
spirit by a alow fire. A* soon tu it hu piused away (which you will ktiow by the usual signs), cea.se to urge the fire, 
for the residue is a simple suhUmale. Pour the spirit of wine upon the above vmeutioncd powder (which ^iboutd be hke 
alcohol) to the height of a palm, enclose it In a glass, keep it for a month in a warm bath to dcgesi^ when the colour 
will be separated and commingled with the spirit. A white powder will remain aL the bottom. Having separated all 
these things, melt the powder, and it will be separated into a metallic water. Evaporate the spirits accoTding to art, 
and the desired sjMrit will remain at the bottom. Perform its gradation in a retort of the proper sitt. Thiii is done 
most com^enieotly by elevation, which U highly attenuAling. - Ckirtirgia Magna ^ Part !L, Tract HI., c. a. 



Concerning ike Spirits of Ike Planets. 



77 



acquire rust, nor is it consumed in the fire like the other metals, all of %vhich 
Saturn draws with himself when flying from the fire, but not this one.* Hence 
it may be g-athercd that this tincture is far more excellent than those set down 
below, for it preserves in the fire the body it has assumed without any accident 
or loss. Hence it is quite clear that if this in its own corruptible body by 
itself produces Mercury, what it will be able to effect when extracted from it into 
another body. Will not that in the same way protect and defend from 
accidents and infirmities? Surely if it produces this Mercury in its own body, 
it will do the same in the bodies of men.t And it not only preserves health, 
but causes (ong^ life, and cures diseases and infirmities, even those which are 
beyond its own special grade. For the higher, more subtly and more perfect 
a medicine is, so much the better and more perfectly it cures. Wherefore 
those are mere ignorant physicians who waste their skill only on vegetables, 
as herbs and the Jike, which are easily cormpted. With these they endeavour 
to accomplish results which are firm and fixed, but they do this vainly as those 
who beat the air. But why speak at length about these? They have not 
learnt better in their universities. If they were compelled to go back to the 
beginnings learn and study, they would think it a great disgrace. Therefore 
they remain in their former ignorance. 

CHAPTER V. 
Concerning the Spirit of Venus. 
We have before made mention of a White Spirit, or colourless Tincture, 
Now w^e proceed to speak of a red spirit, which is produced from a thick 
elemental mixture of the former, to which also it is subject* though, neverthe- 
less, it is more perfect than the spirits and tinctures of the succeeding metals. 
On this account it remains in the fire more constantly than the rest, so that it 
is not so soon burnt, nor does it so soon pass away as the other spirits which 
follow. The air also and the moisture of \Vater are not so injurious to it as to 
Mars» just as it remains more fixedly and for a longer time in the fire. Venus 
has this force and property, that is to say, its body has^ on account of the 
spirit which has been infused into it. Since, then, it produces this effect in its 
own body, that is, in Venus, it accomplishes as much also in man as is by 
Nature conceded to it. It preserves wounds in such a way that no accident 
can affect them, nor can the air or the water injure them. It also drives away 
all such diseases as are under its degree. This spirit further breaks up the 
bodies of metals so that they lose their malleability. \ In the bodies of men, too, 



• Molten lead destroys ail the metaU, includtng itself, by tneaiis of the ftre, ejrcept Sol and Luna.— Ciw;frw# 
Paraucfiiicnt c* to. 

t Since, then, the spirit of Ltioa, b able to protect from aJl injury by iire or other ocdd^its the body into wbich it 
enters, that is to say^ Mercury, and lo render it coMt&tent* it U easy to gather from this, if it produces such an effect in 
Ihecase of an inttable and voUtile body Ukc Mercury, how much more powerfully it will act when diM:ngaged from its 
own body and projected Into the human hody— /h'd. 

i On the other hand, if ii be mixed with certain metals, even among tho4t which are perfect, it tears asunder iheir 
bodtes, so that they are no longer malleable, or capable of being treated in any way until they are set frc« from it. — 



78 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

when it is taken for a disease to which it is not suitable, it produces incon- 
venient results.* It is necessary, therefore, that the physician who desires to 
use these should be experienced, and have a good knowledge of metals. It is 
far better, then, to use the more perfect spirits, which may be taken without 
any such fear of danger. Still, since the spirits of Sol and Luna are costly, so 
that it is not every one who can use them for curative purposes, every one 
^ must take according to his means whatever he can get and pay for.f Every 

1 one is not of such wealth that he can prepare these medicines, so each is com- 

I pelled to do what he can. Every one will easily be able to gather from what 

has been said that metallic medicines far exceed vegetable and animal products 
in their strength and power of healing. So far we have said enough, and more 
than enough, concerning the spirit of Venus. \ 

CHAPTER VI. 
Concerning the Spirit of Mars. 
Speaking of the Spirit of Mars, this comes from a more dense and com- 
bustible mixture of the elements than was the case with the others which 
precede. But Mars is furnished with greater hardness than the other metals, 
\ so that it is not melted in the fire as they are. True, it is hurt by the water 

' and the air more than they are, insomuch that it is altogether destroyed by 

: these influences, and it is also burnt in the fire, as experience proves. So, then, 

» its spirit is less perfect than that of any of the above. But in hardness and 

j dryness it exceeds all the metals above or below. For not only does it render 

I the perfect metals, Sol and Luna, proof against the hammer, but even those 

I which rank below itself, as Jupiter, Saturn, and the like.§ Since, then, it pro- 

duces this effect on metals, this is a sign that it has the same effect on the 
bodies of men, that i^, it produces a struggling ; especially when it is taken for 
a disease to which it is not adapted, it contorts the limbs with great pain. 
But when it is used and applied for wounds which do not exceed its degree, it 
is of powerful cleansing qualities. So, then, this spirit is endowed with no less 
power and potency than are of those above, so far as regards those things for 
which it was appointed by God and by Nature. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Concerning the Spirit of Jupiter. 
Concerning the spirit of Jupiter this should be known, that it is derived 
from the white and pale substance of fire, together with a nature of peculiar 



* In these cases it produces contraction of the limbs. — IhU. 

t It would, however, be safer to use only the spirits of the perfect metals, unless gold and silver are too expensive 
for a patient's resources, or too difficult in their preparation for the talent and skill of any particular physician. In that 
case he may be compelled to do what he has learnt to do, that is, to treat such cases with vegetable and animal 
preparations. — Ibid. 

\ Under favourable astrological circumstances, many tinctures can be extracted from Venus.— Z?r Causis et 
Origiug Luis Galiictt^ Lib. I., c. ii. 

I Nevertheless, it surpasses any other metals in hardness and dryness, destroying and decomposing them by 
admixtiure with them, and this in the case of the perfect no less than of the imperfect metals,— C^n^/rirW /'arn- 
celsica^ c. lo. 



Concerning ike Spirits of the Planets. 



79 



crepitation and fragility, not malleable like Mars. It» therefore, heats other 
metals, and renders them capable of being^ broken with hammers. An 
example of this may be seen when it is joined with Luna^ for it can scarcely 
be brought to its former malleability, except with the greatest labour.* The 
same effect it produces in all other metals» with the single exception of Saturn. 
If it produces this effect in the bodies of metals, it will do the same in human 
bodies* In these it corrodes the limbs with severe burnings and decay, so 
that they are completely cut off from their perfect workings^ and lose them» so 
that they are unable to fulfil the necessary requirements of Nature. Never- 
theless this spirit has in it the virtue of removing cancer, fistulas, and other 
similar ulcers, especially those which are of its own nature, and which do not 
exceed the degree which God and Nature have given to it. 

CHAPTER VIIL 

Concerning the Spirit of Saturn, 

The spirit of Saturn is concrete and formed from a dr)% dark, cold 
admixture of elements. Hence it results that, amongst all others, it has the 
least power of remaining and living in the fire. When, however, Sol and 
Luna have to be pro%^ed and purified, Saturn is added to them, and this has the 
effect of thoroughly purging them. Nevertheless, it is o^ that nature that it 
takes away their malleability'. t It has the same effect on men, w^ith great 
pains, as Jupiter and Mars. Being mixed with cold, it cannot act mildly4 It 
has the very greatest powers and virtues, whereby it cures fistulas, cancer, 
and similar ulcers, which come under its own degree and nature. It drives 
the same kind of diseases from man as it expels impurities from Luna. But if 
it does not go out altogether at the same time, it brings more harm than it 
does good. Consequently, whoever would use it must know what diseases it 
cures, against what it should be taken, and what effects Nature has assigned 
to it. If this be well considered it can do no harm. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Concerning the Gross Spirit of Mercury. 

The spirit of Mercury » which is only subjected to the spirits above, has no 
determinate or certain form in itself. Hence it happens that it admits every 
metaU j'Jst as wax receives all seals, of whatever form. So this dense 
elementarj' spirit may be compared to the other spirits of the metals. For if 
it receive into itself the spirit of Sol, Sol will be produced from it ; if Luna, 
Luna ; and in like manner it does with the other metals. It agrees with them 
and takes their properties to itself. For this reason, so far as relates to its 



• By mlxturt wlilb other metaU it comjpu and decomposes them, espectally Lurui, and; only with great labour can 
It lie separated therefrom.— /^iV/, 

t It leaves thetn broken and decompo*ied after washing.—/^/*/. 

I It dUiort* the limb* - . . with more severe pains than even tin and Iron ; but seeing that lhi< spirit \% 
coagulated with a much more intense cold than others, it does not act ao violently. — Ihid^ 



8o The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus. 

body, it is appropriated to the spirits spoken of above, just as a woman to a 
man. For Sol is the body of Mercury, save only that Sol fixes Mercury and 
becomes fixed. The common Mercury is inconstant and volatile ; nevertheless 
it is subject to all the abovementioned ; and generates again not only the 
aforesaid metallic spirits and tinctures, but the metal itself by which the 
beforenamed tinctures arrive at their working. But if moderation be not 
observed it is impossible to perfect a tincture of this kind. If the fire which 
ought to vivify this tincture be too fierce, the operation will be fruitless ; and 
so if it be too weak. Therefore it is necessary at this point to know what is 
the mean in this Art, and what powers and properties it has ; also by what 
means it is to be ruled, and how to tinge the tinctures, or bring them to their 
perfect operation, so that they may germinate and become apparent. With 
these few words we would conclude this first tract.* 



* It is prepared, then, so far as the body b concerned, from the aforesaid spirits, just as his wife is prepared for a 
husband, not by corporeal admixture, but when the spirit has been educed from its own metal and projected, after 
preparation, into Mercury, then at length it exhibits its transmutation. - Ibid. 



The End of the First Treatise. 



THE SECOND TREATISE, 



*CONCERNIKG THE PhILOSOPHER*S MERCURYt AND THE MEDIUM OF TINCTURES. 

IN the first treatise we have written concerning" the spirits of the nnetals, 
their tinctures, etc., making- clear their properties and natures, and what 
each separate metal generates* In this second we will treat of the 
medium of tinctures, tliat is, the Philosophers* Mercury, whereby are made 
tinctures and fermentations of the metals; in seven chapters, as follows ; — 

CHAPTER I. 

From what Tinxtures and Leavens are Made* 

Whoever wishes to have a tincture of the metals, must take Philosophers' 
Mercury, and project it to its own end ; that is, into the quick mercury from 
w^hence it proceeded.* Hence will ensue that the Philosophers* Mercurj^ will be 
dissolved in the quick mercury, and shall receive its strength, so that the 
Philosophers' Mercury shall kill the quick mercury and render it fixed in the 
fire like itself. For there is between these two mercuries as much agreement 
as between a man and his wife. They are both produced from the gross 
spirits of metals, except that the body of Sol remains fixed in the fire^ but 
the quick mercury is not fixed. The one, however, is appropriated to the 
other as grain or seed to the earth, which we will illustrate by an example, 
thus: If anyone has sown barley he will gather barley; if corn, corn, etc. 
None otherwise is it in this Art. If anyone sows Sol he will gather gold, 
while from Luna he will collect silver, and so with regard to the other metals. 
In this way we say here tinctures are produced from the metals, that is, 
from the Philosophers' Mercury and not from quick mercury. But this 
produces the seed which it had before conceived.! 



• NQtwitbstanding, the tincture <af mercury is a supreme secret.— i?< VUtrum CvriHon*^ c, to. 

t The dead wife of the metal, like an uncultivated field or soi^ if it be maceraEed or revivified by the philo&Qphic 
plough (ike mfe remaining fixed and incorrupt during the proccsn), it is united io the aforesaid corporal spirit by the 
griidca of fire, into its own nature and substance, and this with the dead body of the metal Now, \\\vs cannot be done 
with the crafss spirit of mCTcury, Ajld although the inercurj- or qutck-^ilver of Sol exists and t» fijted, nc\^rlhcleiS the 
common mercur>', not as yet fixed, never attains to resurrection. For the resurrection of the metal* i* an immortd 
regeneraiioti, and the medium wbereby tinctures of tliis kind iwe advanced lo their generation. On this aiicount, 
therefore, it cannot be united lo dead bodies so as to bring about their fixation^ but only to cjclracted spirits, as to those 
ca«poreal ones above-mentioned, which are subject lo the metals just as common mercur>' is to all metallic spirits. The 
crass spirit of mercury can no more generate ihL* tincture in its ^iib^tance than a concubine oin bring forth legitimate 
olfsprtng In the same way must it be judged concerning the crass spirit of tnercur)% until tbe metallic and corponU 
spirit is produced by means of the natural matter. Without this medium it will he impossible for aiiyihing good or per- 
fect lo be accomplished in tinctures of this kind< Moreover, if the fire be too intense it cannot generate ; if too slack^ 
the same re»tdt en!ities.-^£>/ TraHsmHtathnibui Mttaihrnm^ c, ]Oi 

G 



82 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

CHAPTER II. 

Concerning the Conjunction of the Man with the Woman. 

In order that the Philosophers' Mercury and the quick mercury may be 
joined, and this latter united with the fixed, it must of necessity be known how 
much of it must be taken, since more or less than the proper quantity may 
hinder or altogether destroy the whole business. For by superfluity the seed is 
suffocated, so that it cannot live until it is fixed by the Philosophers' Mercury. 
But by defect, since the body cannot be altogether dissolved, it is also destroyed 
so that it is able to produce no fruit. Wherefore it should be clearly 
ascertained how much of the one and the other ought to be taken, if, indeed, 
the artificer would bring this work to its legitimate end. Let the receipt be 
as follows, namely : Take one part to two, or three to four, and you will not 
err, but will arrive at the desired end. 

CHAPTER III. 

Concerning the form of the Glass Instruments. 

When the matter has been rightly joined, it is necessary that you should 
have properly-proportioned glass vessels, neither larger nor smaller than is 
right. If they are too large, the woman, that is, the phlegm, is dispersed, 
whence it ensues that the seed cannot be born ; where they are too small the 
germ is suffocated so that it cannot come to fruit, just as when seed is sown 
under a tree, or among thorns, it cannot germinate, but perishes without fruit. 
No slight error, therefore, may arise through the vessels ; and when once this 
has occurred it cannot again be remedied in the same operation, nor can it 
arrive at a satisfactory issue. Wherefore note what follows, namely, that you 
take three ounces and a half and four pounds ; thus, having proceeded rightly, 
you will save the matter from being dispersed, and prevent the phlegm, or the 
germination, from being impeded. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Concerning the Properties of Fire. 

After you have placed the matter in the proper vessels, you will cherish it 
with natural heat, so that the outside shall not exceed the inside. For if the 
heat be excessive, no conjunction will take place, because by the intense heat 
the matter is dispersed and burnt, so that no advantage arises from it. 
On this account the mid region of the air has been arranged by Nature 
between heaven and earth ; otherwise the sun and the stars would burn up 
all the creatures on the earth, so that nothing could be produced from it. 
Take care, therefore, that between the matter and the fire you interpose an 
airy part of this kind, or a certain distance. In this way the heat will not 
easily be able in any way to do injury, nor to disperse, and still less to burn. 
For if the heat be insufficient neither will the spirit rest acting in no way upon 



Concerning the Spirits of the Planets, 



83 



lis. own humidity j so it will be dried or fixed. For the spirits of metals are of 
themselves dead» and resti and can effect nothing unless they are vitalised* 
None otherwise in the great world the seed cast into the earth is dead, and 
cannot grow of itself unless it be vitalised by the heat of the sun. In the very 
first place, therefore, is it necessary to buiJd the fire for this work In just 
proportion, neither too large nor too small ; otherwise this work will never 
be carried on to its desired and perfect end. 

CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the Signs which appear in the Union of Cokjunxtion. 

When the regimen of the fire is moderated, the matter is by degrees 
moved to blackness. Afterwards, when the drj-ness begins to act upon the 
humidity, various flowers of different colours simultaneously rise in the glass, 
just as they appear in the tail of the peacock, and such as no one has ever seen 
before. Sometimes, too» the glass looks as though it wxre entirely covered with 
gold. When this is perceived, it is a certain indication that the seed of the man 
is operating upon the seed of the woman, is ruling it and fixing it That is, the 
fixed Mercury acts on the quick, and begins to embrace it. Afterwards, when 
the humidity has died out before the process of drying, those colours disappear, 
and the matter at length begins to grow white, and continues to do so until it 
attains the supreme grade of whiteness. In the very first place, care should be 
taken not to hasten the matter unduly, according to the opinion of those who 
think that such a process is in all respects like what is perceived in the growth 
of corn, or in the production of a human being, the latter process occupying 
nine months, the former ten or twelve, Sol and Luna do not ripen so soon, 
or are born so soon, as the child from its mother's womb, or the grain from 
the womb of the earth. The higher and more perfect anything is and should 
be in its nature, the longer time is necessary for its production. For it should 
be known that everything which is born quickly perishes quickly. Both herbs 
and men afford a proof of this. In proportion as they arc quickly produced or 
born is their life short. It is not so with Sol and Luna ; but they have a more 
perfect nature than men ; whence it ensues that they exhibit a long life for 
men and preserve them from many accidental diseases. 

CHAPTER VL 

Concerning the Knowledge of the Perfect Tincture. 

In the preceding chapter we have said how the matter itself is graduated. 
In this WQ will make clear by what means it may be recognised when it is 
perfect. Do this ; When the White Stone of Luna stands forth in its white- 
ness, separate a morsel from it with the forceps, and place it glowing over the 
fire on a plate of copper. If the Stone emits smoke it is not yet perfect, where- 
fore it must be left longer in decoction, until it comes to the grade of a perfect 
Stone, But if it emits no smoke, you may believe it to be perfect. In the 

same way proceed with the Red Stone of Sol in its due gradation. 

G2 




84 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Concerning the Augmentation or the Multiplying of Tinctures. 

When you wish to augment or to multiply the tincture which you have 
found, join it again with the common mercury. Proceed in all respects as 
before, and it will tinge a hundredfold more than it did previously. You can 
repeat this as often as you wish, so as to have as much of the matter as you 
desire. The longer it remains in the fire, the more highly graduated it be- 
comes, so that one part of it will transmute an infinite number of parts of 
quick mercury into the best Luna and the most perfect Sol. Thus you have 
the whole process from the beginning to the end. With these few words we 
will conclude this second treatise, and will now begin the third. 



The End of the Second Treatise. 



THE THIRD TREATISE. 



IN the second treatise we have described the method by which the tinctures 
or fermentations should be produced. In this third we will say how 
the tinctures of Sol and Luna are made. This we shall make clear at 
sufficient lengthy and in what manner Sol, with the other planets^ should be 
produced, namely, with the furnace and fire* 

CHAPTER I. 

Concerning the Building of the Furnace, with the Fire. 

Mercurius Hermes Trismegistus says that he who perfects this Art creates 
a new world. For in the same way as God created the heaven and the earthy 
the furnace with its fire must be constructed and reg"uhitedj that is to say, in 
the folio whig: manner : First, let a furnace be built at a heig^ht of six palms, 
with the fingers and thumb extended, but in breadth only one palm ; round 
within and plain, so that the coals may not adhere to it. At the bottom let a 
little mound be raised, sloping on all sides to the border* Let holes be left 
open underneath, four fingers in breadth, and to each hole let its own furnace 
be applied with a copper cauldron, which contains water. Then take the best 
and most lasting coals, and break them into lumps the size of a walnut. With 
these fill the long furnace, which must tlien be closed, so as not to burn out. 
Afterwards, add coals below, right up to the holes. If the fire is too great, 
put a stove before it : if too little, let the coals be stirred with an iron rod, 
that they may meet the air and the heat may be increased. In this way you 
will be able to regulate the fire, according to the true requirements of its 
nature, so that it shall not be excessive or defective, but adapted to the move- 
ment of the matter. This is compared to the firmament. And there is another 
firmament in this place, namely, the matter contained in the glass, .'\fter 
these things follows the form of the world. The furnace then is to be placed 
as the sun in the great world, which affords light, life» and heat to the whole 
furnace itself, and to all the instruments and other things which it encloses. 

CHAPTER II. 

Concerning the Conjunction of the Man with the Woman. 

Since we have treated of the furnace in which the tinctures are to be pre- 
pared, and of the fire, we now propose to describe more at length how the 



86 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

man and the woman meet and are joined together. This is the manner. Take 
Philosophers' Mercury, prepared and purified to its supreme degree. Dis- 
solve this with its wife, that is to say, with quick mercury, so that the woman 
may dissolve the man, and the man may fix the woman. Then, just as the 
husband loves his wife and she her husband, the Philosophers' Mercury 
pursues the quick mercury with the most supreme love, and their nature is 
moved with the greatest affection towards us. So then each Mercury 
is blended with the other, as the woman with the man, and he with 
her, so far as the body is concerned, to such an extent that they 
have no difference, save as regards their powers and properties, seeing 
the man is fixed, but the woman volatile in the fire. For this reason, the 
woman is united to the man in such a way that she dissolves the man, 
and he fixes her and renders her constant in every consideration as a conse- 
quence. Conceal both in a glass vessel, thoroughly fastened, so that the 
woman may not escape or evaporate ; otherwise the whole work will be 
reduced to npthing. 

' CHAPTER III. 

Concerning the Copulation of the Man with the Woman, etc. 

When you have placed the husband and the wife in the matrimonial bed, 
in order that he may operate upon her and impregnate her, and that the seed 
of the woman may be coagulated into a mass by the seed of the man, without 
which she can bring forth no fruit, it is necessary that the man should perform 
his operation on the woman. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Concerning the Philosophic Coition of the Husband with His Wife. 

As soon as you see the woman take a black colour, know for a certainty 
that she has conceived and become pregnant : and when the seed of the man 
embraces the seed of the woman, this is the first sign and the key of this whole 
work and Art. Therefore preserve a continuous natural heat, and this blackness 
will appear and disappear through being consumed, as one worm eats another, 
and goes on consuming until not one is still left. 

CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the Black Colour. 

As soon as the blackness appears and is manifest, it may be known that 
the woman has become impregnated. But when the peacock's tail begins to 
appear, that is, when many and various colours shall be seen in the glass, it 
is a sign that the Philosophers' Mercury is acting on the common mercury, 
and extending its wings until it shall have conquered. When, therefore, the 
dry acts on the moist these colours appear. 



Concerning tht Spirits of the Planets. 



87 



CHAPTER VI. 
Concerning the Bud appe^uiinc in the Glass. 

When you have seen the different colours* it is necessary that you persevere 

in the work, by constantly continuing the fire, until the peacock's tail is quite 
consumed, while the matter of Luna becomes white and glittering" as snow, and 
the vessel attains its degree of perfection. Then at length you may break off a 
morsel of the reguluSi and place it on a heated copper plate. If it remains firm 
and fixed there, and tinges it, then it is a fermentation brought to the highest 
perfection o^ Luna* That King has strength and power, not only for transmuting 
metals, but also for healing all infirmities. He is a King worthy to be praised, 
and adorned with many virtues, and so great power, that he transmutes Venus, 
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury into Luna, which will stand all tests. He 
also frees the bodies of men from an infinite number of diseases, as fevers, 
the falling sickness, leprosy, the gallic disease, and many mineral ailments 
which no herbs or roots, or anything of that kind, can remove. Whoever 
uses constantly this medicament, prepares for himself a fixed, long, and 
healthy life. 

CHAPTER VIL 

Concerning the Red Colour. 

After the King has assumed his perfect whiteness, the fire must be con- 
tinued perseveringly, until the whiteness takes a yellow tint, this being the 
colour which succeeds the white ; for so long as any heat acts on the white 
and dry matter, the longer such action lasts, the more is it tinted with yellow 
and saffron colour, until it arrives at redness, like the colour of a ruby. Then 
at last the fermentation is prepared for gold, and the oriental King is born, 
sitting in his seat, and powerful above all the princes of this world. 

CHAPTER VHL 

Concerning Increase and Multiplication. 

The niultiplying of this fermentation should be noted, which is performed 
in the following manner. Let it be dissolved in its own moisture, and after- 
wards subjected to the regimen of fire as before. It will act on its own 
humidity more quickly than it previously did, and will transmute into its own 
substance, just as a little leaven seems to transmute into leaven the whole of a 
large quantity of flour. Wherefore it is an unspeakable treasure on the earth, 
of which the universe has not the equal, as Augurellus witnesses. 

Conclusion. 

This secret was accounted by the old Fathers who possessed it as among 
the most occult, lest it should get into the hands of wicked men, who by its aid 
would be able more abundantly to fulfil their own wickedness and crimes. We, 
therefore, ask you, whoever have attained to this gift of God, that, imitating 




88 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

these Fathers, you will treat and preserve this divine mystery in the most secret 
manner possible, for if you tread it under foot, or scatter your pearls before 
swine, be sure that you will hear pronounced against you the severe sentence 
of God, the supreme avenger. 

But to those who, by the special grace of God, abstain most from all 
vices, this* Art will be more constantly and more fully revealed than to any 
others. For with a man of this kind more wisdom is found than with a thou- 
sand sons of the world, by whom this Art is in no way discovered. 

Whoever shall have found this secret and gift of God, let him praise the 
most high God, the Father and Son, with the Holy Spirit. And from this God 
alone let him implore grace, by which he may He able to use that gift to God's 
glory and to the good of his fellow-man. The merciful God grant that this may 
be so for the sake of Jesus Christ His Son, and our Saviour ! 



Here ends the Book concerning the Spirits of the Planets. 



THE ECONOMY OF MINERALS/ 
Elsewhere called the Genealogy of Minerals. 



PREFACE TO THE READER. 

ALTHOUGH order seems to demand that we should have treated of the 
generation of minerals and metals before speaking" of their transmu- 
tations : still, since theor}^ cannot be more lucidly taught than by its 
practice, I have thought it best for those who study this art to begin from the 
very beginning. For, above all else, Alchemy is a subject which is not com- 
prised in mere words, but only in elaborate facts ; just as is the case with the 
rest of those arts, familiarity' with which is gained rather by putting them in 
practice than by any mere demonstrations. It is true that these demonstra- 
tions do a very great deal for those who are some way advanced rather than 
for initiates. For these it is best that from the very first they should have a 
finger in the pie (as the saying is), and gradually learn from the very mistakes 
they make. Nobody ever acquired even the easiest art without making such 
blunders ; and certainly no one wilJ be able to follow up Alchemy without 
making mistakes before he gets at the truth* No one, again, will ever enter 
the true path so long as he holds back from the goal through fear of making 
a false step, or fails to correct his own errors by imitating the course of 
Nature. It will not be so easy to learn if we fail to compare alchemical with 
natural methods. So, then, it was thought well to let artificial Alchemy 
precede the natural, so that we may recall those who are venturing forth in 
this art to the genealogy of minerals, as if to a safe anchorage. It seemed 
opportune, nay» even necessary, to provide some such anchorage for this pur- 
pose in the case of those who are studying Alchemy* 



CHAPTER I. 

Concerning the Generation of Minerals. 

When I had most carefully read through the writings of the ancients 
concerning the generation of minerals, I found that they had not under- 



* Thb treat L»c in the rec«niiOQ here chckhcn for tramlation is not found in the Geneva fulio, and U trausUted from 
anulber collection of Hxc works of FamocUus. namely, the Frankfort 8vo. of is8|. A corresponding tr^atiie, enlitkxt />/ 
MmemlihHs, which U indiuied in the Geneva edition, goes over much the %a«ne ground, and is^ inde«d, in port^idetnicaJ 
with that siven in the text. Dul at the vune lime, it has diflTerences sulficiently marked to require that both vertion* 
fihould be pro%-iiied li will, aocordingly, be fmuid in an appendix at the end of thi^ wlume, under ihe title of A Book 
Iktxnit MtnemtK 



go The Hermetu and Akkemical Writingi of Paracelsus, 

stood the ultimate matter thereof » and, in consequence, much less did 
they understand the primal matter. If the beginning of any matter is 
to be described, its end should first of all be noted down, I therefore 
determined first of all to lay before you the ultimate matter of minerals, and 
from this you will easily understand the primal matter whence they derive 
their orig-tn. We may bring forward an example from Medicine, where a 
disease has to be studied from its issue and not from its origin. Of this 
latter there is no knowledge, because it was secretly introduced, and he who 
observes it is virtually blind. But the end is visible from the issue towards 
which w^e see that disease tending, as though towards a mark set up for it to 
aim at* Now a thing cannot be better judged than by getting to know for 
what end it was created by God ; otherwise it will often happen that the true 
use of this creation of God turns to its abuse. Whosoever, therefore, under- 
takes any work with anything ought thoroughly to understand that with which 
he works, so that he may accomplish his task in the order prescribed by God, 
lest on account of his imperfect knowledge or utter ignorance of the matter, 
things may turn out ill, and the devifs work rather than God's be done, 
through abuse of the matter and of appliances. For a rough example, take 
the case of an axe or club in the hand of a man who does not know how to 
use the ovk^ or the other. They become mere instruments of destruction. He 
alone should handle such tools who knows how to use them, and how, 
out of the material he has, to construct something that shall be to his 
neighbour's benefit, and preserve that material for the purpose for which God 
created it. On this account God wills that everything He has created ^ould 
be possessed by one who knows how to use it ; and every man ought to apply 
himself to that pursuit whereto he feels in his own conscience called, and not 
to learn some other fanciful thing suggested by the devil. 

Know, then, that the ultimate and also the primal matter"*^ of everything is 
fire. This is, as it were, the key that locks the chest. It is this which makes 
manifest whatever is hidden in anything. In this place, then, we understand 
by the ultimate matter of ever^lhing that into which it is dissolved by fire ; so 
that among the three universal things which I have discussed elsew^here in 
different places, this should be regarded as the first and predominating ont* Vou 
have an illustration in the case of a metal dissolved in the fire. It at once makes 
it clear that its first beginning ^vas Mercurial Water, not Sulphur, since its 
resolution is not accompanied with flame, as would be the case with resins» 
It is also proved not to be Salt, because the first sign of its resolution is not a 
crumbling besides liquefaction and flame, as w^ould be the case with earth 
and stones. Every metal, it is true, contains within itself Sulphur and Salt, 



* 1 call the ultimate ni»tter of jinything: thfli ttale in which the substance has rcAched tl5 highest grade oTcxnltAtijoci 
and |>crrcction^ a^, for exiunple, gold, when it has been separated frotii jill superfliutles foreign itiattefi etc., and remains 
in its pure virtue, v»'iihout any admixture, has been educed into iu ultimMe mattcT.— CA/rvr^/ii Sfttgnn^ Pt. 1 1.^ Tract 
II., c. II* For exajnpte, every body mode from the 6r*t tnntier \^ compelled to metamorphose into the ultnnaie m-ftt" 
ter» Thtti the great ultimate mutter bat iL* beginning in the end of the increase of the firet matter, -y^;V/,, Fart IIL, 
Ub. IIL 



Tfu Economy of Minerals. 



91 



but Mercur>^ holds the principal place therein. Now, it has seemed good to 
God to create water an element, and that from it should be every day produced 
minerals for the use of men. Thus it becomes the mother of those things 
which are developed in her, as it were in her matrix j that is to say, Mineral 
Fire, Salt, and Mercury are formed into metals* stones, and all mineral 
substance, albeit the oifspring is quite unlike the mother. In this way the 
Most High has created all things with their own nature : the birds of the air 
for one purpose, which is different from that of the fishes in the sea. And so 
of the rest. Everything is to be committed to His divine will, Who makes 
ever)''thing as it is, and wills that what He makes shall be eternal. As, therefore, 
water is not like its metallic offspring, nor the son like the mother, in the same 
way the earth itself is, as it were, wood and not wood, because it comes from 
that same source. In the same way, stone and iron are produced from w^ater, 
which, however, becomes such w^ater as never before existed : and the earth, 
too, becomes something which in itself it is not. So also man must become 
that which he is not,* 

In a \vord» w^hatever is to pass into its ultimate matter must become 
something different from what its origin was — varied and diverse, though from 
one mother. Thus God willed to be One in all, that is, to be the one primal 
and ultimate matter of all things. He is such, and so wonderful, an original 
artificer of all things as never has existed, nor will another ever exist. As, 
then, you have now heard so far concerning the mother of the minerals, we 
will in the sequel teach you more fully* The ancients have falsely written 
that this is the earth j but they have never been able to prove it. 

CHAPTER 11, 

Concerning the Ultimate and Primal Matter of Minerals. 

The first principle with God was the ultimate matter which He Himself 
made to be the primal, just as a fruit which produces another fruit. It has 
seed ; and this seed ranks as primal matter. Likewise, out of the ultimate 
matter of minerals the primal element was made, that is, it was made into 
seed, w^hich seed is the element of water. This resolves it, so that it becomes 
water. It has been entrusted to it by Nature, or so arranged that it should 
produce the ultimate matter, and this is in water. Nature, therefore, takes 
under its own power and separation whatever there is in water ; and what- 
ever relates to a metal it puts on one side by itself for each particular metal. 
So also for gems, stones, the magnet, and other things of that kind^ each 
separately and according to its own kind. For as God has appointed to the 
wheat its proper time for harvest, and the autumntide for fruits, and to other 
things like these in their elements, so for the element of water He has 



* It U needful far nuvn to be bom a <»ccoi>d time from a virgin, not frDm a wife, by water and by the spirit. For the 
spiifit vivifies that flcsJj whereii) iberc is m) death pv»»ible for evcx^ The 6«>h wherein death abides profiu nothing, 
and nothing towards ftteriud talvalioD can it confer upon man*— *AVbVtfA^M Sag^Jt^ Lib, IL, c. x. 



92 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

willed that there shall be a proper season of har\^est and autumntide ; and for 
all other things, each according to its kind, He has foreordained times for the 
collection of their fruits. So, then, the element of water Is the mother, seed, 
and root of all minerals ; and the Archseus therein is he who disposes every- 
thing according to a definite order, so that each comes to its ultimate matter, 
which at length man receives as a sort of artificial primal matter : that is, 
where Nature ends, there the Art of man begins, for Nature's ultimate matter 
is man's primal matter. After such a wonderful method has God created water 
as the first matter of Nature, so soft and weak a substance, yet from it as a 
fruit the most solid metal, stones, etc— the v^ry hardest from the ver>^ softest : — 
and so that from the water fire should issue forth, beyond the grasp of man's 
intelligence, but not beyond the power of Nature- God has created wonderful 
offspring from that mother, as appears also in men ; if they be looked at even 
in their mother, each will be found peculiar in his intellect and his properties, 
not according to his body, but according to his own state of constitution. 



CHAPTER IIL 

Concerning the Field, the Roots* and the Tkees of Minerals. 

The Most High created the element of water to be, as it w^ere, a field in 
which the roots of mineral trees, springing forth from their seeds, should be 
fixed, and thence the trunk and the branches should be thrust forth over the 
earth. He separated it, therefore, from the other three, so that neither in the 
air, nor in the earth, nor in heaven, but placed on the lower globe, it should 
exist by itself as a free body» to be on the earth and to have its centre there 
where it was founded, created after such an admirable order that it should 
bear man upon it like the earth ; so that man borne in a ship should speed over 
the water and get possession o( it. What is more marvellous still is that 
though it surrounds our globe in every direction, the water does not fall down 
from its own limits, though the part at our antipodes seems to hang downwards, 
just as our part seems to them, and yet each remains spread out a plane 
surface on its own sphere, wherever you look at it, as if some pit should be 
imagined which, descending perpendicularly to the abyss, should find no bottom 
nor be sustained by the earth. It is even more wonderful than the ^gg in its 
shell, provided with all that it requires. The generations of minerals, then, 
from the element of water are protruded into the earth, just as from the 
element of earth all fruits are pushed forward into the air, so that nothing but 
the root remains in the earth. Exactly so, all metals, salt^ gems, stones, talc, 
marcasites, sulphurs, and every similar substance, pass from their mother, the 
water, to another mother, namely, the earth, in which the operation of their 
trees is perfected, while their roots are fixed in the water. For as those things 
which grow from roots in the earth are finished in the air, in like manner, those 
which derive their origin from the water are altogether completed by Nature 
in the earth, so that they reach, as the others did, their ultimate matter. The 



The Economy of Minerals, 



93 



ancients, led astray by this opinion, because they saw that metals were found 
in the earth, were so little advanced that they did not see their error wheat on 
the subject of minerals, they wrote that out of the earth grew nothingf but 
wood, leaves, flowers, fruits, and herbs, and that everything else was produced 
from water. No less mythical was the saying of that man who asserted that 
a!l things which were produced ow the earth had their origin from the air, because 
they are in the air and are perfected there, though he saw their roots in the 
earth. Because he did not see the roots of minerals with his bodily eyes he 
would even feign that they are fixed In the earth. Such is the physical science 
of the Greeks, deduced only from what is seen, recognising nothing occult by 
mental experiment. It is just a fiction of lazy men who presume to chatter 
about natural science from eyesight alone ; and who do not experiment so as 
to observe those occult things u^hich underlie the things which are manifest* 
the one over against the other. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Concerning the Fruits and the Harvest of Minerals. 

Just as all the fruits of the earth have their harvest and autumn on the 
earth and in the air, according to the predestined time in their generation^ so 
the fruits of the water, that is to say, minerals, are gathered at their own 
time of maturity* When the mineral root first germinates they rise to their 
own trunk and tree, that is, into the body from which minerals or metals are 
subsequently produced ; just as a nut or a cherry is not immediately produced 
from the earth, but first of all a tree, from which at length the fruit is 
generated. In like manner, Nature puts forth a mineral tree, that is, an 
aqueous body, in the clement of water. This tree is produced in the earth so 
far as it fills the pores thereof, just In the same way as the earth itself fills the 
air. From this are eventually produced fruits according to the nature and 
property of its species, at the extremities of its branches, just as occurs in 
trees which we see on the surface of the earth. We must seek, then, first of 
all, for the aqueous tree, and by-and-by for its fruits, by a method not inaptly 
borrowed from agriculture, and in the following manner. Some of the visible 
trees produce their fruits covered up ; for instance, chestnuts under a prickly 
bark, walnuts under one that is green and bitter, under that a wooden 
covering, and under this again a bitter membrane, and then at last the kernel. 
So it happens in minerals, the kernels of which, that is to say, the metals, are 
separated just like those others by barks. Other trees produce their fruits 
naked, such as plums, cherries, pears, apples, grapes, etc., where there is no 
such separation as that just described. So also some aqueous trees produce 
their gold, silver, corals, and other metals of that kind, free and naked, 
according to the condition and nature of the water. As we know by the rind 
what fruit lies concealed within it, and as the spirit is known by its body, just 
so» in the case of minerals, the spirit oi the metal is recognised, though hidden, 



f : 

i; 

i . 

/ ; 
I ! 



1 . 



I * 94 TAe Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

I \ beneath its corporeal or mineral bark. The spirit of the aqueous element 

i « produces the body, of one kind in the mineral, of a different kind in the fruit. 

\ Although, then, gold may be in a mineral body, nevertheless that body is of 

•. no moment ; it has to be separated from the gold as impure, while the gold 

* itself is pure. There are, therefore, in a mineral two bodies, of which one is 

- the fruit, the pure body of gold, wherewith its spirit is inseparably 

J incorporated. So the fruits are first introduced from the element into the 

tree, as the spirit into an impure body, and with that at last into the earth, as 

something noble and pure. The same thing is seen in man, to whom have 

I been given two bodies, one corrupt, but the other incorrupt, which will be 

{ eternally united with him, since it is the image of God, and by its possession 

\ especially man differs from all other creatures.* 

\ 

CHAPTER V. 

Concerning the Death of the Elements, especially of Water. 

Elements die, as men die, on account of the corruption in them. As water 
at its death, as it were, consumes and devours its own fruit, so does the earth its 
own fruits. Whatever is born from it returns to it again, is swallowed up 
and lost, just as the time past is swallowed up by yesterday's days and nights, 
the light or darkness of which we shall never see again. It is no weightier 
to-day than yesterday, not even by a single grain, and will after a thousand 
years be of the same weight still. As it gives forth, so, in the same degree, 
it consumes. The death of the water, however, is in its own proper element, in 
that great terminus and centre of water, the sea, wherein the rivers, and what- 
ever else flows into it, die and are consumed as wood in the fire. Rivers, 
indeed, are not the element of water, but the fruit of that element, which is the 
sea ; trom this they derive their origin, and in this they receive both their life 
and their death. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Concerning the Death of the Tree of Minerals. 

After Nature has planted the mineral root of a tree in the centre of its 
matrix, whether to produce a metal, a stone, a gem, salt, alum, vitriol, a saline 
or sweet, cold or hot spring, a coral, or a marcasite, and after it has thrust 
forth the trunk to the earth, this trunk spreads abroad in different branches, 
t 

! * The flesh and blood which man received from Adam can in no wise enter into the kingdom of God. For nothing 

I • can ascend into heaven which did not come forth out of heaven. Now the Adamic flesh is earth. Thus it cannot enter 

I ; heaven, but is again converted into earth. It is mortal, subject to death, and nothing mortal can enter heaven. There 

; is no Are which can purge it from its stains in such wise as to make it fit for heaven. It admits not of purging or glori- 

' fying. At the same time, man cannot enter heaven unless he be true man, clothed upon with flesh and blood. For it b 

\ only by flesh and blood that man is distinguished from the angels, for, otherwise, both are of the same essence. Herein 

/ man hath more than the angels, in that he is endowed with flesh and blood, and for man was the Son of God bom into 

> I the world ; for him He died upon the cross, that so man might be redeemed and made eligible for the kingdom of heaven. 

' But when God had thus shewn His love for man, hb flesh still excluded him from heaven, whence He gave him another 

flesh and blood which was built up of the Son, and then thb creature, not of the Father, but the Son, enters heaven. 
For the Adamic flesh b of the Father, and returns whence it came, though had Adam not sinned his body would have 
remained immortal in Paradise. But Christ, compassionating our calamity, gave us a new body. Of the spirit who 



The Economy of Minerals. 



95 



the liquid of whose substance -both of branches and stalk — is formalJy neither 
a water, nor an oil, nor alute^ nor a mucilage ; in fact, it can only be conceived 
as wood growing out of the earth, which is, nevertheless, not earth, though 
sprung therefrom. They are spread in such a manner that one branch is 
separated from another by an interval of two or three climates and as many 
regions : sometimes from Germany to Hungary, and even beyond. The 
branches of the different trees of the same kind are extended over the whole 
sphere of the earth, just as the veins in the human body are extended into 
various limbs far apart from each other. But the fruits put forth by the 
extremities of the twigs, by the nature ot the ultimate matter, soon fall to 
the earth. There is a momentary coagulation of them, and then at length, 
when all its fruit is shed, this tree dies and is utterly consumed by dr}^ness, 
its offspring being left in the earth, Afterw^ards, according to its state of 
nature, a new tree appears. So, then, the first matter of minerals consists of 
water ; and it comprises only Sulphur, Salt, and Mercurj-. These minerals 
are that element*s spirit and soul, containing in themselves all minerals, 
metals, gems, salts, and other things of that kind, like different seeds in a bag. 
These being poured into water, Nature then directs everj' seed to its peculiar 
and final fruit, incessantly disposing them according to their species and genera. 
These and like things proceed from that true physical science, and those 
fountains of sound philosophy from which, through meditative contemplation 
of the works of God, arises the most intimate knowledge of the Supreme 
Creator and of His virtues. To the minds and mental sight of true philoso- 
phers, no less than to their carnal eyes, the clear light appears. To them the 
occult becomes manifest. But that Greek Satan has sown in the philosophic 
field of true wisdom, tares and his own false seed, to wit, Aristoteles, Albertus, 
Avicenna, Rhasis, and that kind of men, enemies of the light of God and of 
Nature, who have perverted the whole of physical science, since the time 
when they transmuted the name of Sophia into Philosophy,* 

CHAPTER Vil. 
Concerning the Variation of the Primal Matter of Minerals, in 

PROPORTION to the DIFFERENT SPECIES AND INDIVIDUALS THEREOF : 
ALSO CONCERNING THE VARIOUS COLOURS, ETC, 

We have before said that the primal matter exists in its mother, just 
as if in a bag, and that it is composed of three ingredients meeting in on^. 



giv«s life Cometh forth a living 1Ie«h, "vthcrcin 15 no death but life. This 1% the flesh whereof maxi has ne«d, that he may 
become a new man, and in this f]c$h ^ud in that blood, at %i\t last day, ^hull he arise, and «haJl possess the kingdom of 
heaveii with Christ. Now, thi* fle>ih which ho* iu life from the »piril WTii first bom, without the generation of male 
tecdf firofn a daughter of Abraliam. by promi^* and became man by the Holy Ghost. So, alio, we who aspire to the 
kingtioni most be bom again out of a virgin and faith^ incarnateti by the Holy Spirit. Thus man mu-tt to eternity be 
flesh and blood ; thu* is there a dual fl«h-tbat which is Adamic and i» nothiitg, and that of the Holy Spirit which is 
HWx^c.—Phihs^Jfhiii Sagax, Lib. 11., c a. 

* So high axui so lofty is human wisdom that it hath in its power all the stars, the firmament itself, and universal 
bettven. And a& the power thereof pervades all the earth, so also it extendi over heavea. The Sun and Moon arc in 
subjects. Even as the liand changes and compels the ^il, su also the inner microcosmus compeb the lenith to obedi* 
^XiXK*—I>i Fiitt^ Lib. 1 [., c. 9. 



96 The Hermetic and A/chemical IVriiings 0/ Paracelsus. 

But there are as many varieties of Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur as there are 
diflferent fruits in minerals. For a different Sulphur is found in lead, iron, 
gold ; in sapphire^ and other gems ; in stones, marcasites, and salts ; likewise 
a different Salt in metals, salts, etc. So, too» is it with Mercury : one kind 
exists in gems, another in metals. Besides, in respect of the composition of 
these, different individuals are found under the same species. Gold is some- 
times found, on^ specimen heavier or more deeply coloured than another : and 
so of the rest. Moreover, there are as many Sulphurs of gold» Salts, and 
diversities of Mercury of gold^ and of the others, as there are greater and 
lesser degrees. Nevertheless, ali which among them receives particularity 
from the subject always is comprised under the universality of one and the same 
Sulphur, Salt, and Mercur)', mysteriously comprehended in universal Nature. In 
this respect Nature may be compared parabolical ly to a painter, who from some 
few^ colours paints an infinite number of pictures, no one exactly like another. 
The only difference is, that Nature produces living pictures, but the artist only 
imitates these. He represents the same things to the eye; but they are dead 
things. Now, all natural colours proceed from the Salt of Nature, in which they 
exist together with the balsam of things and coagulation. Sulphur exhibits the 
substance of bodies and their building up; Mercury, their virtues and arcana. 
God alone assigns life to all, so that from ever\' one should be produced that which 
He, from all eternity, had predestinated to be thence produced, as He 
determined and willed that all should be. Whoever, therefore, wishes to 
understand the bodies of natural things, let him learn from natural Sulphur that 
which he may first of all ha%'e well understood, if he seeks natural colours as the 
foundation from Salt. But if he wishes to know the virtues of things, he must 
scrutinise the arcana belonging to the Mercury of that thing whose virtues 
he wishes to learn. AH these matters does that one and the same 
Nature at once embrace in one, and separate ; at the same time distributing, 
removing, or completely blotting out the colours from such. Consider, I 
beseech you, this tiny grain of seed, black or brown in colour, out of w'hich 
grows a vast tree, producing such wonderful greenness in its leaves, such 
variegated colours in its flowers, and flavours in its fniits of such infinite variety ; 
see this repeated by Nature in all her products, and you will find her so 
marvellous, so rich, in her mysteries that you will have enough to last you all 
your life in this book of Nature without referring to paper books. If God, then, 
shews Himself to our discernment in Nature so powerful and so wise, how 
much more glorious will He reveal Himself by His Holy Spirit to our mind if 
we only seek Him ? This is the way of safety which leads from below to above. 
This is to walk in the ways of the Lord, to be occupied in admiring His works, 
and to carry out His will, so far as is in us, or as it should and can be in us. 
This has been my Acadcmia, not Athens, Paris, or Toulouse. After I had read 
many deceitful books of wise men I betook myself to this one alone, from 
which I learnt all that I WTite, which also I know to be true. Still, I confess, 
there are many more things which I do not know> but which will surge up to 



The Economy of Minerals. 



97 



the surface in God's own time. There is nothing so occult which shall not be 
revealed when the Almighty wills it so to be. 

This, however, I know, that after me will come a disciple of this school, 
one who does not yet live, but w^ho will disclose many things. 



CHAPTER VHL 
Concerning the Natural Dispenser of Minerals, and His MmtsxERS. 

In the manufacture of minerals by men for preparing them and adapting 
them for use» not one man alone, but many in succession^ are required, and 
each of these has his own special gift and duty. Who is benefitted by a metal 
being dug from the bowels of the earth, unless it be its separator, preparer, 
or liquefactor? What is he, again, without the smith? He, too, is of 
no avail without some buyer, nor the buyer unless there be someone 
who knows how to adapt those metals for use* Nature does not 
need all these ; but still she needs her own people. Among these is, 
first of all, Archcus, the dispenser ol minerals, who has ministers under 
him** He himself, the minister of Nature, has the following: the first, who 
exhibits the corporeal matter into which the operation falls, namely, the 
mineral Sulphur, is this or that condition and nature ; a second, who fabricates 
the properties and virtues, and operates o\\ the previously existing matter, say, 
for instance, Mercury ; a thirds who, by compaction and coagulation, unites 
all the single portions together into one body, that is to say, the Salt, which 
is the confirmer of the w^ork. When all these are brought together into one, 
and enclosed in an athanor, Archeus decocts them, exactly as the seed in the 
earth ; and not only so, but they are decocted mutually together, one with the 
other, in the following manner : The Sulphur submits its body to the other 
two, that they may do with it what they will, and lead to that end whereto is 
destined that which has to be done. Mercury is added with the properties of 
its virtues, and this is decocted by the other two. When all the decoctions of 
this kind are fulfilled^ then, at length, the salt begins to operate on the other 
matters associated with it, and on itself. By first condensing, afterwards 
congealing, and, lastly, coagulating, it strengthens the work for its autumn 
and harvest, so that nothing is wanting except a harvester and a smith. 

Briefly, then, we have gone through the whole genealog}^ of minerals, 
It remains that we specially, but still concisely, hear the force and virtue of 
each in Alchemy and in Medicine respectively, so far as it is necessar)' to learn 
these for the aforesaid faculties. I would admonish my readers to put aside 
for awhile the mere dreams and opinions of others who romance about these 
things, until they see that they are only philosophers on paper, not in Nature, 
who have been taught by men like themselves, and with the same amount of 



♦ Archeus %% Nature antl the dUpcii^er of ihtngs.— ^ ««i>/<t/i><w» r« L ihrfit timai tU Tttrt/trfi. The Atiatomy of the 
Arch«tjs u the anatomy of life. - Frag-mtnta Auaiomitr. Archeiu U the tepamior of the etement* and of all tliOM 

thing^s whicli exist in them, dividing each thing from the i^»t, and gathering it into itn own placc^— i?/ EUmttkto Aiftm^ 
Tract II., c. ». 

a 



gS The Hermetic and Alchemical Wriiings of Paracelsus. 

learnings to think by rote and not by experience, while they shew themselves 
to others such as they really are. Though they may not care to see, I will 
still pJace them so that at least they may perceive the light and nature and 
life more easily, without being disturbed through the darkness of death. 
Beginning, then, from the first principles of minerals, which are Salts, we will 
run through each, that is to say, right up to the ver>' end of the metals. 



CHAPTER IX, 

Concerning the Virtues and Properties of Salts in Alchemy and 

IN Medicine* 

God, in His goodness and greatness^ willed that man should be led by 
Nature to such a state of necessity as to be unable to live naturally without 
natural Salt, Hence its necessity in all foods. Salt is the balsam of Nature,* 
which drives away the corruption of the warm Sulphur with the moist Mercury, 
out of which two ingredients man is by Nature compacted. Now, since it is 
necessar)' that these prime constituents should be nourished with something 
like themselves, it follows as a matter of course that man must use ardent 
foods for the sustenance of his internal Sulphur ; moist foods for nourishing 
the Mercor}^ and salted foods for keeping the Salt in a faculty for building up 
the body* Its power for conservation is chiefly seen in the fact that it keeps 
dead flesh for a ver>' long time from decay ; hence it is easy to guess that it 
will still more preserve living flesh. Coming, at length, to its ktnds^ there 
are three which are considered specially useful for man*s life. The first of 
these is Marine Salt, the second is Spring Salt, and the third Mineral Salt. 
Spring Salt is chiefly conducive to health ; in the second place, Mineral Salt ; 
and, lastly, Marine Salt. This last and the first are decocted by Art, the other 
only by Nature, This and the Marine Salt are not comprised under the nature 
of muria (brine), but that which is decocted is first of all turned thereinto, before 
it is separated from the water into cojigulated salt. There are, therefore, two 
descriptions of Salt to be put foripvard by us, one from muria, the other from 
wholly refined salt. But, first, consideration should be given to that condition 
which is common to every Salt, Where Salt has not been used with foods there 
is no correction ; and if the stomach receives those foods it is unable to 
digest them. There is in Salt an expulsive force, acting through the 
excrement or through the urine, and unless these are kept in their regular 
course and motion, all the vital faculties are prostrated in their endeavours 



• VirTiiic vitriol^ red vilriot^ cupmc vkriolj rock aluitif alumen plumo&um, Alumen sci:$&um, atumen entaJii olumen 
itsnetum, sal gemnwE:, rock sail, mountain salt, sea salt, spring *alt— all these specie* Ofiginatc from the lialt of the 
three prime principles, and are sultject to catcination, reverberation^ or sublimation^ Now^ if all these thtngi. sub&ist in 
a proper proportion or, ^o to !^f>cak, c»encc, ihey are called by one universal name, liquor of Nature, or liquor of 5ah, 
or bftlsam of salt. Besides thejie, there arc arr^cnic, rciilgur* ogertum, black auripigment (thai is, orpimeni), antimony^ 
mercury, asphalt, These, in like manner, arc aubject to calcinationt reverberation, dl»tiUalion, etc., and if ihey subsist 
wholty In one essence they are called the balsam of Nature, tbe liquor of Mercury, or the balsam of Mercury. Firudly, 
ibere are the various species of sulphur, petroleum, carabe. pitch, etc., which arc also <;i]bjeci to the vame prucesies, aikI 
if they subsist unbepa^at«^d in a single CAWtuce they are called the tincture of Nature, tiquor of sulphur, or bal&am of 
sulphur. — /'f^afmemia Mfdica^ No. 3, 



The Economy of Minerals. 



99 



and in their powers of expulsion. The blood Is in its own nature salt, and 
does not receive unsalted nutriment. If it does, through extreme hunger, 
sometimes receive such, it passes away to decay. In order that such a fault 
might be avoided, Salt has been appointed as an addition to alimentary foods, 
so that the natural outlets may not be obstructed, or the members be deprived 
of their due nutriment. Moreover, there lies hid in Salt a solvent faculty for 
opening the obstructions which accidentally occur in the pores of the skin, and 
driving them out by resolving them into urine* The urine is only the salt of 
the blood, that is^ the salt from the natural salt which is associated with 
the microcosmic salt, and so they both act powerfully for the expulsion of 
the excrements. Now, this natural conjunction can only be made when 
tempered with a proper quantity of alimentary salt, otherwise through the 
stoppage they easily remain and adhere somewhere. Every physician ought 
to know the power there is in Salt as a medicine, especially when he wishes to 
purge the natural Salt* Let him more freely prescribe this, especially the kind 
that comes from gems, which, above all others, has the faculty of attacking 
and expelling this natural Salt. The operations of these three different kinds 
of Salt should be carefully watched in practice, a method which opens the 
eyes far better than any letter or description. 

CHAPTER X. 

Concerning Muria* 

I just now mentioned two kinds of Salt, Muria and dry Salt. First of all, 
Muria has the greatest power of drying up all superfluous moisture. It does 
more in on^ hour than dry Salt could effect in a month. Although this has 
been reduced to Muria, It has not the same power as the natural in curing 
moist gout, dropsy, moist tumours of the tibia, and other tumours as well, in 
a word, for consuming all unnatural leprous liquids. Its heat should be so 
tempered that a patient could sit in it ;is in a bath without injury. The proof 
of perfection in Muria is that an ^%^ shall swim on its surface when thrown 
into it. It should be noticed that a bath of this kind is only adapted for stout 
people. People who are of a spare habit should not use it, as it dries up too 
much. If after one or two baths the tumours return, it would be best to live 
for a time in those places where the decoctions of Mtiriae and Salt are made. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Concerning Dry Salt, 
There are various species of dry Salts, such as the common sort used 
with food, that from gems, stones, and earths, and that which comes through 
the cones of congelated bodies. Note the common virtue of each. If any one 
of them be mixed with Sulphur and applied to w^ounds as a plaster, and then 
as a lotion, it keeps them from worms, and even if the worms have already 
been produced, it drives them awav and prevents any more from coming. By 

H2 



icx) The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus. 

cleansing alone, and without the use of any medicament, Nature heals 
wounds, unless any complication prove an obstacle to the free action of the 
natural balsam. In Salts of this kind is a great remedy for ulcers, scabies, 
and the like, if they are resolved in baths. The power of Muria is much 
stronger, and this can be increased by dissolving Salt in it. The same is useful 
for curing baldness, and other ailments of that kind, especially if these Salts 
are corrected by addition, or increased in power by the following method : 
Take equal quantities of dry Salt and Salt of Urine,* as much as you will, let 
them be calcined together for two hours, and let Muria afterwards be dissolved ; 
or let them be put by themselves in a cold, damp place. They will exhibit 
artificial Muria very little less strong than the natural in external surgical 
cases, but much weaker in internal cures. The aforesaid Salts will never be 
found in any other things, even though the alcali be decocted from them. 
This Salt is not like those before named, but is called the alcali of natural 
things or Corporeal Salt, because it is fed by the salts of nutriment in the 
human body, or by the preceding, even the dry and specially nutritive ones. For 
Alchemy, the Water of Salt is made from the same kind of Salts calcined into 
a spirit in a vessel where gold is dissolved into an oil and separated from it so 
that it remains excellent and potable— Drinkable Gold. Before it arrives at 
this final condition, as we have heard from jewellers and ironmasters, it is an 
excellent artifice for gilding silver or iron, and would be a constant treasure 
if they only knew how to prepare it chemically. It should be remarked, too, 
concerning pure Salt, congelated by Nature alone either into cones or into the 
salt of a gem, that this is particularly adapted for the ordinary cementations 
of silver, and renders the metal malleable without the customary burnings. 
It does the same with copper by means of a cement reduced to a regulus. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Concerning Salt Nitre. 

There is also another kind of salt which is called nitre, t It is composed 
naturally of the natural salt of animals' bodies, and the salt of nutriment in 
those bodies combined. One salt having thus been formed from two, the 
superfluity is decocted into urine, and, falling on the earth, is again decocted 
in due course. The two constituents are more and more closely united, so 
that from them results one single and perfect salt through the chemical separa- 
tion brought about by artificial decoction from its earth. It shews itself very 
clearly in the form of cones or of clods, provided it be thoroughly separated 
from the superfluous nutri mental Salt not yet digested by the animal decoction 

• Every urine is a resolved salt.— Z?^ Judicio Urinarum ^ Lib. IL Salt passes into urine. — /?r Tartttro^ Lib. 

I., Tract III., c. i, ex^sitio. 

t Nitre forms in the pens and stables where cattle make water. For the earth whereon they make water is after- 
wards cooked and the salt nitre obtained from it. For all urine is salt. — De Tar.rtrv, Lib. L, Tract III., annotationes 
in c. 2. Nitre is excrement and the dead body of csile and nutrimental matter. And this dead body is thai out of 

which putrefaction grows. — Fragmenta Medico^ Ue Tarato Nitreo. It is an essential spirit and excrement of all 

salts, possessing a hermaphroditic nature. — De Pestiiiinte, Tract I. 



The Economy of Minerals, 



lOE 



Vhea It is driven off into the urine* In Alchemy its use is ver}' frequent. It 
would be idle to recount how g-reat was the \Ho!ence which a first experiment 
demonstrated therein with disastrous result, when it was compounded with 
sulphur and formed into blastingf powder, whence it has been deservedly called 
terrestrial lightning. In the same way, from the salt of the liquor of the earth, 
which is an universal natural balsam, by which all things are built up in their 
special combinations, returning at length from this by resolution into the earth 
again— there is produced, as was stated above, a single salt, which afterwards 
percolating through the pores of the earth is coagulated in the form of cones 
of ice adhering to the rocks, from which circumstance it changed its name of 
Nitre into Saltpetre. Neither the one nor the other is particularly useful as an 
internal medicine, except in the way of reducing too obese bodies ; nor is it a 
\ety safe remedy, unless the two are mixed with Salt of Copper, or else the 
three are subjected to a process of extraction, and formed into one body for 
employment in this special way. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Concerning the III Effects of Nutrimental Salt. 

All salt used with food which has not been digested by the stomach, 
which also on being expelled has passed dcnvn into the intestine, unless it 
makes a thorough transit, generates colic and suffering in the bowels which 
are very difficult to cure. Its corrosive nature causes it sometimes to per- 
forate the intestines, as is shewn by anat€>my. If, however, it remains un- 
expeiled in the stomach, eructations and heartburns arise, with many other 
affections of the stomach. It sometimes happens, too, that the undigested 
Salt is coagulated in the mesaraic veins, forming a granular deposit, from 
which proceed many severe diseases which are little understood, and that not 
only in this particular part of the body but in others also, especially the urinary 
organs. Enough has been said on the different species of salts, their virtues 
and their faults. We now pass on to that salt which is more mineral in its 
character, and iis named Vitriol It excels all others by its utility, both in 
Alchemy and in Medicine. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CONXERNING VlTRIOL.* 

Nature produces from the bowels of the earth a certain kind of salt, named 
Vitriol, possessed of such virtues and powers as can scarcely be described to the 
full by any. In it are contained peifect cures for the jaundice, gravel, calculus. 



* An important variation of this and th« folio wing chaptcn on vitriol occurt in the Geneva folio. Concerning the 
USE OF- VITR10LATEP OIL IN AtcWEMV ; and in like manner concerning iu crude form. By way of saying sometbing about 
the bidden alchemicaf powers in Vitriol, I would f\n\. of att Srubmit to you, concerning crude vitriol, that each separate 
kind of cnide vitriol makc^ copper out of Iroti. It i* not the AJchemist wKo do** ibL*, but Nature or Vitriol b>' the operaiion 
of the Alchemist. In the light of Nature it is the .subject of no small wonder to observe bow any metal, as it were, 
puts olT it&elf and becomes .something else. It ts reallv very much the &am« as if a woman should be produced from a 
man. In these mattcr^^ however, Nature has her own peculiar privileges conferred upon ber by God, for the benefit of 



102 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

fevers^ worms, the falling sickness, and many other diseases which are v-ery ctiffi- 
cult to treat, and arising from obstructions, as we shall describe at greater length 
below. In both faculties, that is to say, in Medicine and in Alchemy, it pro- 
duces marvellous effects, varying according to the method of its preparation. 
As from one log of wood different images are carved, so from this body various 
most excellent medicines are prepared, not only for internal disorders but also 
for surgical cases, such as ringworm and leprosy. In a word, whatever other 
remedies are not able to effect against diseases, on account of their own weak- 
ness, this it does from the very foundation by remo\'ing the cause of the ctisease. 
Some of its powers it puts forth in a crude state, others when it is reduced to 
water, others when it is calcined, others when it is reduced to a green oil, 
others in the form of a red oil ; others, again, it possesses when in the form of 
a white oil. It assumes new powers with every fresh form of preparation 
which it receives. It can serve for a fourth part of all the diseases and all the 
drugs ever thought of. There is no need for the true physician to turn his 
eyes hither and thither. Like a modest maid, he can keep them fixed on the 
ground, for there, beneath his feet, he will find more power and wealth in this 
treasure of Nature than India, Eg^-pt, Barbary, and Greece could bring him. 

CHAPTER XV. 

CONXERKING THE SpECIES OP VlTIUOL AND THE TeSTS OF FT. 

The species of Vitriol are as varied as the mines or sources from which it 
is extracted. The tests of its greater or less excellence vary in equal proportion. 
First, if it tinges an iron plate to the colour of copper, the more deeply it does 
so, the better it is considered. But this is the highest of all kinds. Secondly, 
when it is taken internally in a crude form it drives out intestinal worms better 
than any other medicine, and the more effectually it does this the better it is 



man. I taj this c oo c t ra ing aransomtauoD in order to make yon ondcrstand hov that cnvioos phikMophcr, Anstode, in 
his philoBOphr* 1>3S no sure foondaiioo^ but b simply farcons. I viU lay befare yon, in doe coarse, the recipe itself^ so 
chat in an parts of the German nation yon may know how to make copper oat of iron. From thi^ power of craiBmnta- 
cion we can easily gather that many other transmutatioas are posstbte, thoagh they are at present anknown to a&. It 
cannot be denied that many arts are still occult, and that these are not rereakd by God bfcacse we are not worthy of 
knowing then. Of coarse the change of iron into copper b not of the same importance as the change of iron into gold. 
God twanifr<»% the lesser^ bat the greater is kept occult until the tine of knowledge and of Ellas who is to cook. For 
these arts are not without their EUasi. The following is the recipe for transmntatKO : Take raspings or filings of inm, 
withoot any other metal, soch as copper^ tin, etc, one pound : add quk^sihrer. half a poond. Put both into an iron 
pan or pot; poor over them one measure of acetxun and a qiuuter of a pound of vitriol, with one oonce and a half of sad 
annooiahc. Let these be botkd together and constantly well stirred with wocd. If the acerom be ^^p'-^'H, poor in 
sooke more and add fresh vitrioL Bv this dccoctioa the iron is traxkUBUtcd into ccpper. If the copper is made it all 
passes away to the quicksilver. Ha\-ing continued the decoction for ten or twelve hours* then separate as much of the 
qukksihrer as is left from the iron, and wash it carefully so that it may be quite deaik Receive the quicaathrer in a b^ 
made of soft leather or cotton and squeexe it out. Then you wilt see an amalgam left. Let that ««»»«Ty. expend 
ics^, and you will find pure and good copper. Of this copper take half an ounce and the same quantity of silver. Let 
them pass into a state <^ flux or liquefaction, and the silver will forthwith ascend to the sixteenth degree. .\nd thb is the 
mgth od of pro\-iRg that such copper is made from iron. It is not, however, true that the grades are fixed. But whoever 
can work well with regale will be abundantly rewarded. £\-«rything in thb operation depends on skill in working. This 
b where most operators £ul. By the abo>i-e>mention<d process you can always make copper out of iron. I mentian 
thb to confirm the transmutation of one body into another. The nature of \itrioI b such that if its colcothar be cal- 
cined it b at once, even with slight liquefaction, txumed into copper. .\ remarkable cuprine nature b in ic and there 
b also an equally remarkable Wtriolic nature in copper. If the copper be dissolved in aqua fortb and granulated, all 
the copper becomes vitrioL There b no more copper left. So, also, copper b made oat of vitriol, and no oMre vitriol 



The Economy of Minerals, 



103 



considered to be as a medicine. A third test is when it transmutes iron into 
copper. The more perfectly and the more rapidly it does this, the better 

should it be esteemed in both faculties, for there is the greatest affinity 
between these two metals. Nor is this remarkable when by means of borax 
water quicksilver is made in like manner from lead. There are other kinds of 
cachimiaB which convert metals ; and besides these there is a fountain in 
Hungary, or rather a torrent, which derives its origin from Vitriol, 
nay, its whole substance is Vitrioli and any iron thrown into it is at 
once consumed and turned to rust, while this rust is immediately 
reduced to the best and most permanent copper, by means of fire 
and bellows. A fourth test is when its red colcothar, subjected to a strong 
fire, exhibits copper of itself. This is comparatively weak in Medicine, but of 
great excellence in Alchemy. We must not omit to speak of its colours. 
That which is altogether ccerulean is not so strong in medicine as that which 
under the same colour has red and yellow spots mixed together. That which 
is of a pale sky blue colour should be selected before all others for the prepar- 
of the green and the white oil. That which inclines to a red or dark yellow 
colour is best for preparing the red oil from it. The last test is when with 
gall nuts it makes a very black and dark ink. This should be selected in 
preference to all the others. The species, therefore^ are reckoned according 
to the tests. 

CHAPTER XVI, 

CONCERNIP^G THE VIRTUES OF VlTRIOL, CrUDE OR CaLCINED, IN MeUICINE. 

For the most severe pains in the stomach and discomforts arising from 
the inordinate use of food or drink* exhibit crude Vitriol to the extent of six 
cometz or three drops, say, three grains. To weak patients it should be 
administered in wine or in water, to stronger ones in distilled wine. It purges 



remains, unless it be reconverted into vitriol by » suffidcnt quantiry of aquafo'tts, Thl^ kind of kinship between vitriol 
and copper is remarkable. Whatever is of the iiAture of copper gives gocxl vitrioL Thus verdigris gives good Mid 
highly Ki'^duaied blue vitriol. Although for us to discu«>s these nuiltcrs at any length would perhaps be ridicti- 
Itjus, still nouecAn deny that ibcrc \h btent i« vitriol a lincture, which ]« of mutrh higher esfcelltncc than inoii people 
iraaj^ne, Happy he who understands, this matter [ Note other f^cts about the oil of vitnol. If the oil uf quicksilver 
and this oil of vitriol be joined and ihus coagulated according to their own special process^ a sapphire of marvellous 
nature and condition is produced. It ij» not, indeed, the sapphire »tone, but like it, with a wonderful tinge, concerning 
which I have much more to 6ay. Hence it is evident that stupendous «ecrtts lie hidden m Nature and in the different 
creau'ofls of Nature or of God ; and it would be much more to our credit if we looked into these and investigated ibeni, 
instead of indulging in revelry and debauchery. At present the palm b given to debauchery, until one-third part of 
mankind or of the populaiiun of the world shall be killed, anotlier shall l>c finished olTby diseasctand the remaining third 
only iball be saved ajid stur>'ive. In the present condition of depravity the world cannot last or the arts Bourish. It 
must needs be that the present condition and order of things go to destruction and be aliogctbcr eliminated, otherwise no 
good ihiug can be compassed. Then .11 lost will flouri*h the Golden Age : that is. then at last man will use his Intdlt* 
gence and live as a man, not a« a brute ; nor will he act the swine, of live in caves and dens of the earth.. Since, then* 
I have so far communicated to you these facts about vitriol, with every good dispo!<iition. I now pray you all, that when 
you sec those unlucky and unhapi>y creatures suffering from critical di:^a!»c, for the sake of your own conscience, for 
God's glory, and the love of your neighbour, you will seriously milect and not despise or lightly e&teetn the gifts im- 
planted! by God in vitriol. Let love constrain you^ so that by night and by day you may be occupied hereini, and none 
be found takmg his ease, but all ready to do anything for his neighbour's good. Will this not move you lawyers? 
Lbten to what Christ says : '* Woe unto you, lawyer* 1 " This saying is not effete. Nor do y^u theologians place a 
stumbling block in the way, you who think so ntuch more of your returns and your salaries than about your iiick fulk^ 
These are they who pass by on the Jericho road. Be you like the Good Somaritant and follow the example of hU virtue. 
Then God will so enlarge your gifts that in helping the skk you ^all suffer no lack' All that you need shall be given 
you. You only sell this treasure ! 



I04 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

out every failing from the roots, driving it up and down. In arcana it is 
called Vitriol Grillus, or Grilla. Neither hellebore, nor colocynth, nor 
digridion purge so strongly or cure so perfectly as this, nor have they the 
same faculty for driving out worms. For curing the falling sickness, too, the 
purgation by Vitriol is of all methods the best. These properties accrue to it 
from its twofold nature, that is to say, its acetosity and its saltness. On this 
account it is a much nobler medicine than others. Its colcothar, or, as they 
call it, its red Caput Mortuum^ should not be taken internally, unless as an 
adjunct to surgical treatment for putrid ulcers of the first grade of malignity ; 
but its oil may be taken for those of the second or third grade. Its medicinal 
virtues are contained in other medical books, as, for instance, in the treatise 
entitled De Naturalibus Rebus, Here we had intended only to treat 
and to bring to one focus what it does for Alchemy in the way of trans- 
mutation. Sometimes medical topics tempt one to stray from one's set 
purpose. Let us see, then, what Vitriol does in Alchemy beyond the 
transmutation of iron into copper, as we described above, giving the formula 
at the outset. Although, then, it is not so difficult a work to transmute iron 
into gold, God wills that the lesser operations shall be performed first, and 
that the greater ones should remain occult until the Elias of the Art arrives. 
All arts have some one person specially their own, as is understood in other 
arts. Now, take one pound of iron filing, without the admixture of any other 
metal, and half-a-pound of Mercury. Over these pour one measure of the 
strongest Acetum, with a quarter of a pound of Vitriol. Throw in an ounce 
and a half of Sal Armoniac. Boil all together, and stir constantly with a 
wooden spoon. As the Acetum wastes pour on fresh, and also Vitriol. After 
twelve hours let the chief part of the Iron which has been transmuted be 
entirely separated with Mercury from the other part of the Iron which has not 
been transmuted ; and when the Mercury has been pressed out by a leather, 
there will remain a paste of amalgam, and when this is reduced by fire it 
exhibits the purest copper. Half an ounce of this is at once mixed with an 
equal part of silver, six degrees being held back, though not fixed but ready 
to be fixed in regale^ so that therefrom the industrious Artist may have 
moderate gain for food and clothing. Vitriol is also made from Venus, 
dissolved by means of aquafortis and granulated. This does not return again 
to copper. So also from the colcothar of vitriol Venus is made (as we have 
mentioned above among the tests), which is not brought back to vitriol of 
itself except by a special water. Verdigris, in like manner, exhibits a Spagyric 
Vitriol of highest degree. In Vitriol so great and powerful a. tincture lurks as 
an inexperienced person could scarcely believe, though he can who under- 
stands its arcana. As often as Oil of Vitriol is mixed with Oil of Mercury, 
and both are coagulated together, they change to a stone of wonderful tint 
and condition, very like a sapphire. 

Having dealt with the Salts, let us now pass on to Sulphur. 



The Economy of Minerals. 105 

CHAPTER XVJl. 

Concerning the Threefold Sulphur of Minerals, 

Sulphur should properly be called the resin of the earth, and in it are 
latent numberless virtues available in both faculties, thoug-h its crude form is 
useful in neither. Its arcanum alone, when cleansed from impurities, operates 
in a wonderful way, having" been washed to that whiteness which is seen in 
snow, by means of the Isopic art. It has as many diiferent virtues as it has 
variety of sources : for every metal or mineral contains Sulphur in itself. As 
we said above, under the similitude of chestnuts and other nuts, that minerals 
were likewise enclosed in their rinds^ and that the chief excellence lay concealed 
in their nucleus, which is sustained and nourished by the external integuments, 
so w^ith regard to Sulphurs, it must be understood that it is the interior one 
which excels the others, and is Spagyrically termed enibrj^onated, on account 
of its specific origin, as being the Sulphur of gold, stone, etc. The external 
Sulphur, in which the embryonated lies concealed, is our mineral. There is 
also a third kind, extracted from the nuclei of minerals or of metals, which 
cannot have a better name in the art than ** animated *' and ** Spagj-ric." It 
is of universal application in both faculties. In order to better comprehensioni 
the first Sulphur, which we have said to be a resin of the earth, as it were, the 
mother and the father of other sulphurs, we name universal. The second 
kind is where it assumes a metallic or mineral appearance, but it is now em- 
brj'onated ; the third, which is rcpurged from these and exists SpagjTically 
pure from all superfluities, is Animated Sulphur, There are two conditions of 
this embryonated Sulphur which are worthy of notice. One, passing from 
the fixed stage, is made volatile ; the other is a pure and living fire which 
destroys with equal facility a log of w^ood or a disease. The extraction of the 
embryonated Sulphur is brought about either by sublimation or by descent. 
But sometimes it is not found mixed naturally with other ingredients, so that 
being unable through its great subtlety to stand the heat of the fire in prepara- 
tions of this kind, it has to be extracted from its minerals by means of aqua- 
fortis, and afterwards coagulated. This, when set aside according to its true 
concordance^ contains within itself a golden nature, on which account it is to 
be sought before all others in Alchemy » because it easily admits of fixation, 
nay, it fixes the gold in cements, and in other metals where it is not yet mature 
or volatile. But gold is vainly sought therefrom unless it shall have previously 
existed there by Nature, it contains no silver, but only gold, one containing 
more than another, as in the embryonate of Venus, of red talc, o{ gold or 
iron marcasite, these rarely lack gold. Now, whoever wishes to turn his 
hand to these things, let him first of all remember and carefully note to 
separate Sulphur of this kind from gold with the greatest activity, and cleverly 
withal, so that nothing shall perish with the gold. I could say more than 
this, but I must be silent. If it were not diametrically to oppose the will of 
God, it would be the easiest thing possible to make all rich alike by a very 



io6 Tlu Hermetic and Alckemical Wriiings of Paracelsus. 

few words, and to fulfil the wishes of everj^body. But since riches altogether 
lead aside the poor frora the right path, taking away humility and piety, and 

putting pride and self-sufficiency in their piace» together with petulance and 
incontinence, one would rather hold one's tongue, leaving poverty as a bridle 
against these faults in those who are at once poor and greedy of wealth. To 
come to mineral Sulphur. The leader of our Art has directed his disciples to a 
recognition of this fact, that nothing can be generated from the woman with- 
out her husband. They have seen, therefore, that this Art is the father which 
arranges all things. He has summoned the spirit of transmutation whereby 
the mineral Sulphur is joined to linseed oil, and thence, by means of decoction 
a certain form results in the shape of a liver or a lung, and from thence 
afterwards a twofold liquid, one as white as milk, thick and oily; the other 
like oil, \cry red and as thick as blood ; but both oi such a nature that one 
will not mix with the othen The white liquid sinks to the bottom, the red 
floating on the surface. Attempts have been made to go farther, and make a 
white tincture from the white liquid ; but to no purpose. I know that nothing 
has been done or can be done in this way, because the matter is weak and use- 
less for this Art. But any crystal or beryl placed therein at the proper time, and 
remaining there for three years at least, is transmuted into a stone very like a 
jacinth. Likewise a ruby, which has not been sufliciently tinted by Nature, is, in 
course of time, rendered so clear and bright that it shines by night like a natural 
carbuncle, and wherever it is placed it can be found at night without a light. 
The same result follows with a jacinth ; and in the sapphire the coerulean 
colour is increased beyond the natural hue, with a translucent green tint 
inserted, It is also a most excellent tincture for dlher gems, as well as for 
Luna. If this be placed therein» it grows black, and lays aside the calx 
of Sol, though it be not fixed until it has arrived at its complete stage of per- 
fection. Enough on this topic. Whoever wishes to work with this tincture, 
must first learn by means of Alchemy carefully to accomplish its preparation. 
It is well nigh the most difficult of all alchemical operations so far as prepera- 
tion is concerned. This oil excels only in tints. In the greater virtues it is not 
so much to be trusted for acting, because there is a tincture of colour only in 
it, not of virtue. Some persons have tried also to extract tinctures from the 
metals. They have failed ; but it would not be well to set down here the 
cause of their failure. This, however, is very certain, whoever has the 
Tincture of Sol, will be able to bring the body of gold beyond Its natural 
degree, that is to say, from twenty-four to the thirty-six, and beyond, so 
intensely that it cannot ascend higher, though it still remains constant and 
fixed in antimony and in every quartation. The Sulphur of Luna, too, exalts 
its own body to such a degree that Venus, with an equal weight of this 
Luna, is taken for the Lydian stone. The Sulphur of Venus fixes copper, so 
that it will stand the test of lightning, but, nevertheless, it does not tinge. 
With the Sulphur of Saturn [it is transmuted into] the best steel ; with the 
Sulphur of Jupiter, into excellent iron. So, too, tin is fixed with its own 



Tlie Ecofwniy of Minerals. 



107 



Sulphur, so that it stands lightning, and Saturn is strengfthened and fixed by 
its own [sulphur], so that it no longer affords any ceruse . or minium, or spirit. 
The Sulphur of Mercury renders its own body malleable, so that it bears the 
ignition of Venus, but not its ashes. The Sulphur of Sol tinges Luna, but 
does not fix it. There occur also with the other sulphurs transmutations oi 
things put in them into some other bodies than their own. But this experi- 
ment does not turn out as desired. It should be remarked, meanwhile, that 
Sulphur demands a ver)^ expert operator, not a mere boaster or charlatan. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

COKCERNIKG ArSENIC USED FOR AlCHEMY.* 

It seems right to connect Arsenic generically with Sulphurs rather than 
with Mercuries, and to treat it immediately after Sulphurs. Some old chemists, 
or rather sophists, labouring at chemistry, swelling with jaundice, that is, 
with desire of gold, and a sort of yellow dropsy, when they saw in arsenic the 
white Tincture of Venus, and the red tincture in the calamine stone, believing, 
too, that the true arcanum of the stone was contained in these, thought the 
white and red elect rum were silver and gold until they found out the 
contrary by tests, and learnt that they had been engaged in a vain work. And 
not content with that they went on perversely in order to arrive at fixation, and 
persevered until they had neither house nor possession left. They had wrought 
a transmutation in themselves rather than in the metals ! And what wonder? 
They approached this work without judgment, and possessing no knowledge 
of minerals and metals, as so many of those who embark in the Art at the 
present day do. Since the time when the name of electrum given by the 
ancients passed into oblivion, there has forthwith followed the ruin of those 



* In thk c&i«, Also, tb« Geneva fdio offers considerable VAmtiom from the text as it stands abo\'«. Cokcekming 
THE AjLCHfiMICAL ViKTU£5 IK Aasenic.— A Certain name was invented and put forth by our anceston, namely, 
electrum. Electrum is a metal proceedings from another metal, and unlike the metal Trom which it descends For 
example : Copper turns to white metal. When its redness is removed it i* called electrum. In like manner, from 
copper, by means of cadtnia, b made orichakum, and this b called red electrum. These difTerent kind^ of electrum 
certain aldsemicat Kiolssta and artist a reckoned as silver, and jtomeltmca took in place of gold ; nor did they understand 
or believe: anything ctte save that thk wa& silver ,^ and ^o that tilver cotild be produced from copper. Omitting the name 
of electrum, they took it for silver or for ||old, and did nol leave off Ihcir investigations so long as a house or a court 
remained. 1 point otit this tn order (bat error may be Avoided, and that doe consiideration may be given to the ques- 
tion*, What lA electrum 1 what is gold ? juid what i* silver T and thAt in this way no rash measure* may be taken. 
Now, t will lay before you a certain mulicament. Take the metal arsenic, prepared in a metallic way ; cement the 
same with Venus in the usuaJ manner, and you will fim! a targe quantity of electrum to the copper. No one need Incur 
great expend for this substance, because it costs a good deal to make electrum. So, then, it is better to leave copper 
as copper ip its own form* In no respect \% its electrum better, but rather commoner^ So by dissolving it in graduated 
water it leaves a calx. It is not that silver is produced, but electrum ; and it is rendered so subtle tliat nothing what- 
ever remains, but it vanLshev, and because it is nol fixed it is consomed. Thus not only in copper, but also in iron, tin, 
steel, etc, a residuum is Irfi ; but nothing of a fijted character is present, and in this way many are deceived. 
Eventually matters came to this crisU, that electrum lost its name and was called silver, whereupon there began for 
die aJcbemists destruction^ exile, misery, and disappointed hopes. There are nuiny recipes of this kind which it is not 
neceasary to recount. They are well known to artistic who follow me in this chapter, who aUo have well weighed their 
own error in seeking it in vain etsewbere. There is a good deal of seduction for juniors to desert the method of their 
elders, and when the pupil wishes to be more learned than the master, and no longer remains in the right path, but 
judges lUiiig^ for himielf, and Is prepared to abide by his own opinion. All that conies of it is, he labours in vain^ thus 
atoning for his fault and incurring grievous loss. The ancients called this substance electrum, and such is its proper 
name. The modems call it silver — its improper name. Our forefatlier& avoided all loss because they knew what they 
were about ; the rij>iug getieration do not know, and ki incur loss. It has been a constant custom in alchemy that 



io8 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

who changed that name into fictitious g^old and silver. That has been the 
destruction ot modern chemists. To define Electrum : it is a metal made from 
some other by Art, and no longer resembling that from which it was made. 
For example : arsenical metal» prepared according to the form of metallic pre- 
paration, cemented with Venus in the accustomed manner, converts the whole 
copper into white electrum more worthless than its own copper. What need 
is there to deprave metals at great expense? Would it not be better to leave 
the copper in its own natural essence, to keep one*s money, and devote time 
and labour to a more useful work? The ancients called Electrum by its proper 
name; the moderns falsely call it silver* The ancients were not losers, because 
they knew the Electrum itself; the moderns, because they have no knowledge 
of Electrum^ throw away their faculties, labour, and time* Now, since in 
Alchemy all mistakes are constantly propped up with some new hope, \t was 
tried to fix Arsenic by means of reverberations for some weeks, and bj"" other 
devices. Thence it ensued that the Arsenic became red and brittle like coral, 
but of no use in Alchemy except for Electrum, as was just now said. Then by 
descent and precipitation they elTected nothing more than by their calcinations. 
Thus it happens that in Alchemy obstinate men are deceived because they do 
not learn thoroughly from the foundation all the terms of the^Art. It is true 
that Arsenic does» in its own natural condition, contain gold ; and that this 
gold, by the industry of the artist, can sometimes be separated in a cement, 
or a projection, or otherwise, into silver, copper, or lead by attraction ; but it 
does not therefore follow that this is produced by his operations and his 
tinctures. It means only that the gold which was there before has been 
derived by a process of separation, as it generally is, from its ore. It is nearly 
always found golden, and ver>^ seldom lacks gold, as is the case with many 



investigations shall be made with persistent good hope, liejice ofjemlors have tried to fix arsenic, and to transmute it 
into another essence, oo. the chance that it may be, or may be remlcreH, better, and prove of greater efficacy. Hereupon 
followed the reverbcraliwn of arsenic, a«d lU circulation in a reverbcratory of reeds for some weck»» or b>' some similar 
process. Arsenic haA been rendered like crystal, red and beauiiful', like r«l glas^ for its hardness, light weight, and 
fragility. There i» no place for ihe virtues of this arsenic in medicine, li regjirds only electra, as has already been 
ftttid.^ Moreover, it has been attempted lo deal with this, too, by another method of preparation, namely, by deitceat. 
By this method it is rendered red and yellow, aiid in potency i» equivalent to tbe ipecie^s already mentioned^ Some 
have precipiuicd it, and it ha*, approached, or even reached, a red colour ; and yet not all the operators in this way 
have reaped the fruit of their labours or arrived at the result they contemplated, but only at the electric Mtageofit, 
which, on account of their ignorance and inexperietice, led many artists astray. Wherefore it is neccsj;>ar>i' that e%-ery* 
ot3e it) the^ things should be farsighled. He who has not full knowledge and comprehension) of at! iiainct 
doc* nothing, and the heads, however full of braln», do not get at the foundMion of the matter. One thiiig is wantiDf 
to them for a foundation— to know electrum and other substances when they see them. Then they understand of them- 
selves whether they can progress with electrum or not. Nevertheless it often happens that arsenic ib auriferous in itA 
nature, and contains gold in it^ Now, if an operator is skilled in separating gold from arsenic, whether by a cement or 
by Aome method of projection, or by another process, so that be can reduce that gold to some metal, such as silver, 
copper, or lead, without doubt he will find it to be gold, atui of excellent quality too. To follow \\{\& up so that a 
tincture shall be produced, or it shall is«ue forth from a tincture, is nothing ; but the gold is in the arsenic, and the 
whole matter lies in depurgation, separation, and kindred proce&ses, according as anyone has experience therein. 
Arsenic, especially, which comes from auriferous districts, or from gold, is rarely without gold. The only point of 
importance is that the separation shall be properly made. I know nothing mtirc of arsenic and it* species l>eyond what 
t hfive put forward ; at least, nothing which it U lawful and expedieTil to make known, whether with refcreuce to 
medicine or to alchemical operations. Whoever has prudence ought to be sufhcienily skilful for this purpo^^ If lie 
has it not, let him altogether abstain^ No faculty can subdue itself ; but failure must ensue if due order and a genuine 
mode of procedure have not been preserved. Vou should follow the guidance of your own ]udgtu«nt. The num who 
follows no other guide is not in a «taie of sulucrviencc to any. 




The Economy of Minerals. log 

other substances. So far, then, have I g-iven concerning Arsenic what I know, 
or what it is advisable to write. Let everybody first of all diligently examine 
its name, so that he may understand. Otherwise error is apt to arise easily 
in both faculties, which is only at lengfth discovered by the result, 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Concerning Quicksilver. 

Having dealt with salts and sulphurs, we come to Quicksilver. This 
cannot be properly termed a metal, but rather a metallic water; but it is called 
a metaj for this reason, because, by means of Alchemy » it is brought to a 
solid substance and into a metallic colour, sometimes being fixed and some- 
times not fixed. It can only be known as the chief material of Alchemists, 
who are able from it to make gold, silver, copper, etc., which will stand the 
test. So, too, perhaps tin, lead, and even iron. It is of a wonderful naturet 
inscrutable save after great labour. In a word, it shews itself to be the first 
material of Alchemists in metallic degrees, and the chief arcanum in medicine. 
It is a water which wets nothing it touches, an animal without feet, and the 
heaviest of all metals. It consists of Sulphur, Salt, and Mercur>% The first 
and last matter it discloses in liquefactions of the metals, especially those 
which liquefy by heat without fire, and in others by flux. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Concerning CACHiMii© and Imperfect Bodies. 

There is another kind of mineral bodies which is not saline, nor is it a 
metal, but metallic ; such are marcasites,'"' chiseta red and white, perfect and 
imperfect antimoniacs, arsenicals, auripigments, various talcics, cobleta, 
granata, gem-like bodies, etc, 1 say these are metallic bodies since they have 
chiefly the first metallic matter, and derive their origin from the first three 
metallic bodies, to which they fly, as it were, and arc incorporated with them 
as metals, for instance, gold, silver, copper, iron, etc. But since together 
with them there is incorporated a metallic enemy, they can only be separated 



• Marcasites arc to be found in all genera, whether you have regard to colaijjr, brilluncy, form, or any other 
property. For they are DOlhing else than the superfluity of mctaU, that U^ tnalier abundant in tnetals^ being 
something which metab are unable to bear or conUiin vrithin them, or convert into their own form. First of alt^ when 
the salt^ xi^ separated from Are;> (tbc occult dispenser of Nature), a separation of uietals follows. Out of ihe^, firstly, 
tDarcaJiiie b produced which h* unfit to become % metaU and yet in thai marter it so rc!iide» that at first out of Arc« 
there grows that matter of the metals^ And it \% the first matter, cmisi^ting of three things, the $pirit of Milt, the spirit 
of mercury, and the «pirk of sulphur, but in such a maJiner that these three arc one. Of these all mctaU and minerak 
consiiit. These things being so ordered, Archeus (the occult nirtue of Kature) in^titut(» the iirM operation of inctal% 
so as to produce them and distini;i)lsh them into their forms and n.-itures. But before he deals with the metals 
themtelvc*. he ej«:ts the superfluity which abounds in tall, mercury* and rulphur, and purges the three, after 
whi(^ the superfluity emerg4^ along a simple line into its own ylLadum (chaos), and Xh at lirst divided into two genera, 
nurcftsite* aiKi cachlmias Here it is coagulated into a mineral, consL4iing of s^Jt^ sulphur* and mercur>'. Yellow 
inarcasite obtains its colour from the predominiuice of sulphur ; the white from the predominance of mercury. For 
Hulphur and cachimlee acquire their colour from salt, for this is derived from the spirit of salt* \\x*A a» gravity ih 
derived from mercury in all three. But if the separation be properly effected, each of the minerals^ that ijt to say 
mercury* sulphur. »aJt, settles in its o^m place. Of thejie three all minerals consists— Z'<' Eiematfo A^tto- 
Tract Iff,, c, t. 



I lo TJu Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

by means of Alchemy when set free from the tjTanny of this foe. There arc 
different enemies of this kind which practise robber)' against the metals, just as 
if anyone seeking refuge with a companion should be robbed in his house and 
killed b}' the very man whose help he asked. Some of those spoken of consist 
chiefly of Sulphur, as marcasites, chiseta, cobleta ; others in the body of Mer- 
cury, as arsenicals, auripigmentals, antimoniacs, etc. Others in Salt, as all 
belonging to talc. There are two colours of marcasites, the white and the 
yellow, according to the imperfect metallic Sulphur arranged in them, which 
also they need for many purposes. An imperfect metal is made from cobleta. 
This admits of liquefaction, and passes into a state of flux, is of a blacker 
colour than lead and iron, but of no brightness or metallic glitter ; it barely 
admits of malleation, so that scarcely anything can be made from it. Its 
ultimate matter has not yet been discovered, nor the process of its separation. 
There is no doubt it is a promiscuous race from the male and female, as is 
the case in iron and steel, but these cannot be perfectly welded until some 
method of separation is discovered. There is another similar body called 
zinchinum ; not that which is commonly so known, but a peculiar kind in 
which various metals are found to be adulterated, of a liquefiable nature and 
not malleable. It differs much in colour from the others, of which the last has 
not yet been found. In its preparation it is almost as wonderful as Mercury 
itself. It avoids mixture with anything else, and remains a special glass much 
to be admired among minerals. Metallic grains are found also in torrents, 
and are called granates, on account of their outer form. They are liquefied and 
bear the hammer ; but still are not capable of being made into any implement. 
The properties of these bodies cannot be known unless they are revealed by 
Alchemy. Many contain adulterated metals, such as silver and gold, which 
flow to them, as they are accustomed to do to copper and to lead. They con- 
sist of a certain dense kind of Sulphur. Some granates of another kind are 
clear as crystal, and there is gold and silver in them."*" 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Concerning Metals free by Nature, Perfect and Imperfect ; and 

FIRST concerning SaTURN, OR LeAD. 

Saturn has obtained a body the blackest and densest of all (though 
white, yellow, and red inhere therein), Mercury a similar one, and Salt one 

* A^ in the generation of marcasites, so in cachimiae. The superfluity Is ejected from the prime principles. Some 
times mercury, sometimes sulphur, sometimes salt, will predominate, and that which predominates forms a mineral^ 
In marcasites sulphur and mercury prevail, as two very light things which first fly away, then coagulate, and become 
very heavy. After the superfluity more completely departs", there is more salt and less of the other principles, 
though they are not altogether absent. Thus originate cachimis, tabulated and fissile, out of the nature of salt, which 
in sulphur and such mercury is of this property. It has all colours, white and red, receiving them from sulphur and 
mercury as one or the other predominates. But cachimia is more fixed and solid than marcasite, by reason of its fixed 
salt. Colours, also, are fixed in it, so that it may receive no injury from the fi)-e. Thus marcasite is the superfluity 
abounding in the first matter of metals in Arcs, which is separated by Archeus into Yliadum, whence afterwards are 
generated about thirty forms of marcasite and cachimis, all of which are, nevertheless, comprehended under two names. 
The multiplicity of these genera, which are all derived from one matter, is owing to the imequal manner in which the 
three prime principles are combined. —Ibid.^ c. a. 



The Economy of Minerals, 



III 



above all others fusible. By corruption It is easily reduced to its spirit, to 
white or yellow cerussa, to minium, and lastly, to g^Iass, like the rest. Tin 
is made up of white fixed Sulphur and fixed Salt but of Mercury not fixed. 
And because it is fixed in body, not in Mercury, it easily loses its metallic 
fusion, the spirit passing" away by the fire ; and when this is absent it is no 
longer a metal but an evanescent body* Iron and steel are not of the Hque* 
fiable Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury', contrary to tin and lead. Iron is coagulated 
into the hardest metal of all, and it marries itself : that is, two metals are 
found in one, steel the male, and the female iron. These can be separated 
one from the other, each for its special use. Gold is generated from the very ' 
purest Sulphur^ perfectly sublimated by Nature, purged from all its dregs and 
spurious admixtures » and exalted to such a transparency that no metal can 
corporeally ascend higher. This Sulphur is one part of the primal element, 
and if Alchemists could have this as something easily discoverable in its tree 
and root, they wou!d be able with due cause to rejoice ; for it is the true 
Sulphur of the philosophers out of which gold is made, not that other gold 
out of which is made iron, copper, etc. This is its universal test. Its Mercur>\ 
too, is by Nature perfectly separated from all terrestrial and accidental super- 
fluity, transmuted separately into its mercurial part, and into extreme 
perspicuity, which Mercury of the Philosphers is the second part of the primal 
matter of gold, from which gold is generated. Lastly, Salt is the third part of| 
the primal essence of gold, and of the tree from which gold is to be produced, 
as roses from rose-seeds — gold which is brought to its supreme crj^stalline 
brightness, and purified from all the acridity, acerbity, bitterness, darkness, 
and vitriolic nature of Salt, so that nothing of this kind appertains to it, now 
that it rejoices in its lucidity and transparency. [ 

When these three meet together in one, the gold is decocted into a mass, 
not, however, always of one and the same condition or degree. Nature 
exhibits thirty-two grains of gold, and these in Art become twenty-four grains 
in the highest grade of perfection. The cause of this is that the gold is 
nourished in its tree as a cow in its pastures, or an epicurean in his cook-shop 
and eating-house. Directly one of these leaves his feeding-place he grows 
lean, and so is it with gold ; it is diminished by eight degrees. And as some 
of these feeding-places are occasionally inferior, it happens that the degrees of 
the gold are deteriorated or diminished too ; so that Nature's sum total of 
twenty-six is reduced in Art to ten. The accidents, or rather the incidents, of 
the stars or of the elements sometimes hinder the generation of gold, so that 
it becomes ruder and less tractable in its nature. But it is especially in- 
equality in the weights of the three primals which has effect. Too great a 
portion of Salt renders it too pale. With too much Mercury it grows yellow, 
and with a too plentiful supply of Sulphur it is rendered red. In Nature, just 
as much as in the work of man, errors occur by means of these hindrances ; 
but these can be removed by means of antimony, cements, and quartations. 
In Sulphur nothing should be looked for but a body, in Salt confirmation, but 



1 1 2 The Hernutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

in Merciii*)' all virtue, property, essence, and nnedicine, which do not exist 
anywhere else as it does therein ; but rather as in a dead body from which the 
spirit has departed, in which, however, we try to keep some of the elementary 
powers, as, for instance, the remains of the fire of wine in Acetum, though 
these are corrosive rather than nutritive or strengthening. Natural objects 
clearly shew that they are compounded of the four elements ; but beyond that 
the matter is occult. They are made up only of the three we have spoken 
about I which possess a magnet common to them all* This, in the decoction 
oi the preparation, attracts to itself the Irinitj^ of essence- The old philoso- 
phers called this state esse, because the trinity acquires a condition of unity in 
which the natural motion reposes and settles the degree. But that magnetic 
virtue should deservedly be called a fourth esse{nQl element) since it attracts the 
medicine to the Mercur>' in which It is found. In the ultimate separation, 
however, the Mercurj' loses most of its weight. All these matters being thus 
arranged by Nature, the gold grows up to a tree, spreading forth first from 
the root by the trunk to its branches and twigs, on which flowers are produced 
(as we see on the earth), and when these fade the fruit is not always found at 
the extremities of the twigs, but sometimes a hundred paces farther off in the 
tree, occasionally in its very midst, or some degrees towards the surface of the 
earth* It will sometimes happen that nothing but Mercury is produced, when 
by its superfluity it has suppressed the other ingredients. If, however, the 
Salts preponderate, their corrosive nature, like so many worms, consumes the 
flowers of the tree. By the preponderance of Sulphur everything is burnt up, 
just as on earth by the too great heat of the sun. Copper is produced by the 
brow^n Sulphur, red Salt, and yellow Mercury decocted into a metal. This 
contains within itself its masculine element, that is, the scoria ; and if it be 
again reduced to a metal after separation, it returns to masculine copper, 
which can no longer be corrupted ; and the female will afford no scoriae at all. 
On malleation and fusion they differ from each other only as steel and iron, and 
can be separated in the same way, so that two different metals are thence pro- 
duced. Silver is composed of white Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, naturally 
prepared and fixed to the highest degree of purity and transparency, next after 
gold, in ashes, not in antimony, or in royal cement, or in quartation. The dif- 
ference of fixation between gold and silver can easily be learnt by considering 
that gold is masculine, and has the male virtues ver)^ strongly fixed, while 
silver, as the female, has them weaken They are of one and the same primal 
matter, and dilTer as to colour and fixing in no other way than as the male and 
the female. The metals, then, are seven in number, exclusive of Mercur)% 
namely gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, steel, and copper. The last contains within 
itself the male and female, when both are welded for use, and are not separated 
by Nature, as steel and iron are ; so that they are held as one, and since they 
possess the same malleability and power of being wrought, they are not com- 
monly separated, except when this is done chemically for purposes of the Art. 
It should be remarked, loo, that metals are not always found with their mascu- 



The Ecofiomy of Minerals. 1 1 3 

line and feminine portions separated by Nature, as is the case with gold, silver, 
iron, and steel, each by itself. Often the two are found together, as gold and 
silver in one metal, also steel and iron together, or tin and lead, the one not 
hindering the other, or being separated one from the other. Sometimes two 
adulterated metals are found, as gold and silver naturally mixed with others, 
on account of their subtlety, especially when several of diverse primal nature 
meet in one body, just as we see on the earth diflferent fruits engrafted on the 
trunk of one tree. 

Conclusion. 

. A fitting treatise on the natural generation of metals was absolutely 
necessary in order that it might be understood what is meant by the 
regeneration of metals brought about through Alchemical Art. The opinion 
of all those who philosophise on this Art is that the Artist in this profession 
ought in all things exactly to imitate Nature. So, then, it was necessary to 
say and to understand how Nature works in the innermost parts of the earth, 
and what instruments she employs. Whoever has not understood in this way 
will be little likely to get at the knowledge by his own unaided endeavours. 
Let him who investigates this difficult and abstruse matter be not so much 
the disciple of Art as of Nature. 



Here ends the Economy of Minerals. 



THE COMPOSITION OF METALS* 



T F any one denies that there is great efficaqr in the Composition of ^f etats 
I so far as relates to supernatural affairs, we will answer him, and hring^ 
forward so many proofs as shall support our own opinion and force him 
to subscribe thereto. For if the seven metals were, in just and due order, 
compounded, mixed together, and united in the fire, you must certainly hold 
that in one body were conjoined and linked together all the virtues of the 
seven metals. It has been seen good to call this body electrum. Its efficacj-, 
power, and operations, moreover, shew themselves to be much greater, even 
supernaturally so, than exist in a latent form grafted by Nature on metals in 
their rude condition. In those solid and rude metals are only those powers 
wherewith God and Nature herself have endowed them. Go1d» indeed, is the 
noblest of all, the most precious and primar^^ metal, if we rightly consider it; 
and we are not prepared to deny that leprosy, in all its forms, can be thereby 
removed from the human frame. Nor are we unaware that exterior ulcers and 
wounds are ctxred by copper and mercury. The other metals, too, have each 
their own excellences, and these not by any means to be despised ; but we%\ill 
pass over these for the moment, since you will hear of them when we come to 
treat concerning the Life ol the Metals. f But metals cannot be used in 
medicine without injury, unless they be first comminuted, altered, and, after 
being deprived of their metallic nature, transmuted into another essence. Vou 
can hope for little result from them unless the preparation which Alchemy 
teaches shall have preceded their administration ; that is, if you have not pre* 
viously reduced them to their arcana, oils, balsams, quintessences, tinctures, 
calces, salts, crocuses or the like, and then administered them to the patient. 
Moreover, the supernatural force or effect of the metals, even though it be pre- 
sent in them, will be of no avail unless you first prepare them according to 
our method in which we will instruct you. But we greatly desire that our 
electrum should be compounded, since it can afford great and mar%'ellous 
results in proportion as it is revealed by practice. If we consented to pass 



* A considcmble poitioD of tbu tract belongs more properly to tbe lecUoo concerned «dtb Hermetk Medicine, but 
U U intcrted nt thU point for the further illustration of the subject of electrum, which is somewhat shortly discussed in 
the foreKoing treatUe, The work Dr Com^ctitionf Mttathrum \h printed in separate form in the Easle Svo^ hut jt 
really conttituie« the sixth book of the Arxkid^jtii Ma^um^ && they Are found in the Geneva folio. 

t So f;ur as the Archidoxi$ Mtigka: are concerned, this promiic b not fulfilled. Possibly Poracdjius intended to 
cany his subject further than the seventh book, which is devoted to the sigils of the planets, and has nothing of a 
cbemioU nature. But possibly, also, a reference Is intended to the first book C^nctrmng th* Nainrt m/ Tkingi. 



The Composition of Metals, 



115 



over its praises in silence, we should consider that we were doing it an injurj^ : 
but since its operation and mighty power surpass belief, we deem it necessary 
to pronounce an culogiiim on its virtues and efficacy. We will defer for the 
moment any mention of the rude and solid metals, since they admit of no 
comparison with our electrum* If any appliance used for food or drink be 
made of this material and diligently w*atched» it will be impossible for any 
poison or drug to be placed in it, because in our electrum there is so much 
sympathy towards man through the force, efficacy, and influence of the planets 
and the stars of Olympus » that for very pity, and as though in difficulty , 
directly it is taken in hand it betrays the poison by breaking out into a sweat 
and projecting spots. For this reason our ancestors used to have their 
drinking-cups, dishesi and other utensils made of the said material* There still 
remain in our age many necklaces and ornaments, such as rings^ bracelets, 
remarkable coins, seals, figures, bells, shekels, made out of this, which of old 
w*ere hidden in the earth. When they were dug up nobody, or very few, under- 
stood them, and in their ignorance they gilded them over or tinged them with 
silver. It is just a mark of the ignorance of our age that it cares nothing 
for such objects as these. But God would not have it that such a mystex*y of 
Nature and such a great treasure of His ow^n should be hid any longer, but 
that what had been hidden by the more than Cimmerian darkness of the 
sophists should now, after a long season, come to light again. We do not 
assume to exhaust the virtues of our electrum. The ribald genius of the 
sophists would be hurt ; the crowd o^ fools would be offended, and would 
receive w^hat we said with idiotic laughter. Over and over again we have 
been on our guard against scandalising this impious crowd ; so to avoid such 
a result it will be safest to pass over these matters in silence. Not, however, 
that we can altogether pass unnoticed certain stupendous effects of our 
electrum ; since they came under our own eyes we shall be able to speak the 
more freely concerning them, without any suspicion that we are romancing or 
making up a story. We have seen rings, for instance, which removed all fear 
of paralysis or spasm from those who wore them on their fingers. These 
people, too, never suffered from apoplexy or epilepsy. If an epileptic patient 
put such a ring on the third finger, even though he be so overcome by the 
violence of the paroxysm as to be prostrated on the ground, he comes to him- 
self and gets up- 

Here, too, should be added something which we do not give from the 
report of others, for the same we have seen with our own ^y^s and know by 
experience. If the abovemcntioned ring be worn on the third finger by a 
man in whom any ailment is latent and growing, so that it would presently 
break forth in an eruption, the ring would forthwith give an indication by 
bursting out in a sweat, and as if seized with a sudden sympathy would put 
forth spots and become depraved in appearance, as we shall shew more fully 
in our book entitled *' Sympathy." 



I 2 



[i6 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

Lastly, since I would not pass over or omit any word in favour of 
electrum, it is a preservation and an antidote against evil spirits. There is 
latent m it an operation and a conjunction of planetary influence which make 
us the more easily believe that the old Magi in Persia and Chaldsea 
attempted and accomplished much by its aid. If we sought to enumerate all 
the cases specifically, we should indeed enter upon a marvellous chronicle. 
Not, however, to g^ive any occasion of olTence or allow persons to make a 
handle of this* it will suffice to have touched the subject In few words. The 
Sophists, who are my deadliest enemies, would not hesitate to proclaim me 
Arch-Necromancer. But I cannot refrain from telling a miracle which I saw 
in Spain when I was at the house of a certain necromancer. He had a bell 
weighing, perhaps, two pounds, and by a stroke of this bell he used to 
summon, and to bring, too, visions of many different spectres and spirits. In 
the interior of the bell he had engraved certain words and characters, and as 
soon as the sound and tinkle were heard^ spirits appeared in any form he 
desired. Moreover, the stroke of this bell was so powerful that he produced 
in the midst many visions of spirits^ of men, and even of cattle, whatever he 
wished, and then drove them away again. I saw many instances of this, but 
what I particuaJarly noticed was that when he was going to do anything new, 
he renewed and changed the characters and the names. I did not, however, 
get so far as to induce this man to impart to me the secret and mystery of the 
names and characters. At length I began to speculate more thoroughly about 
this circumstance ; and there came Into my mind— ideas which we will pass 
over in silence here. There was more in that bell than one can put into 
words; and of this be ver^^ sure, that the material of which it was composed 
was this electrum of ours. You will therefore have no difficulty in believing 
that Virgirs bell (Nola) was of such a kind as this. At its stroke all the 
adulterers and adulteresses in the king's palace were so excited and alarmed 
that suddenly, as if struck with lightning, they rushed over the bridge into the 
river. Think not this story a mere fable : the thing really happened. Nor 
be so dense as to hesitate as to whether such properties can exist. For if, as 
you know to be the case, a visible man can call another visible man to him by 
a word, and force him to do what he wants— when a mere word, without the 
aid of arms, can effect so much, much more can it be that an invisible man 
can do this, since he commands both the visible and the invisible man, not by 
the aid of a word, but by the direction of his thought The inferior always 
obeys the superior, and stands to him in the light of a subject. So, then, you 
will easily come round to our opinion if you settle it that the interior or 
invisible man is a kind of constellation or firmament. For he remains latent 
in the senses and thoughts of the exterior, visible man, and discloses or reveals 
himself only by imagination. You will concede^ therefore, that there are stars 
in man and that their constellation is so arranged by the Olympian spirit that 
the man can be led and changed into quite another man. So, then, I say that 



The Composition of Metals. 



117 



the same thing occurs with metals, namely, that things may be so constellated 
by celestial impression as to make the operation and virtue which Nature 
originally determined, really arise from the good aspect of the higher stars, 
and thus unfold itself, as is shewn in other books of the Archidoxis Magica,* 
I will subjoin, if you wish, an illustration. Let any one reduce to an amalgam 
gold and mercury, making a conjunction of Sol and Mercury, but with a pre- 
ponderance of SoL Let him mix and blend them, and soon, with little labour, 
the two metals will become fixed. With these, if you wtlh you can make a 
tincture on Mercuriusvivm. That, again, can afterwards be increased and aug- 
mented with other Mercurius vivus under the same constellation* This is, indeed, 
a great arcanum of Nature, There will be a similar composition and union of 
gold or silver with mercury without this conjunction. For if gold be placed 
above mercury, so that the white fume of the mercury touch and penetrate 
the body of the gold, the gold w*ill be rendered fragile^ and will melt with the 
greatest ease like w^ax, The process Is the same with silver. 

This is the Magnesia of the Philosophers, In the finding of which Thomas 
of Aquinum and Rupescissa and their disciples, though they worked hard, were 
unsuccessfu!. And let nobody think it an easy matter so to blend Mercurius 
vivHS in the fire with harder metals and those of tardier solution— as silver, 



* Moreover, it is altogether ccrtAin, and exprn mentally proved, that the mutaiiosu of time bave singuJar foirce and 
opemnon, and tht* U especially the case when certain mctaU are melted and elaboratttl logelher. Further, no one caa 
prove thill the metaU are de%'oid of life* Their oili, sutphurst saU*, and quintessences, which arc the best reservative^, 
ha>* cnontious power In nourkhlng and su^iLunlng human life, and herein altogether surpais in strength all other 
simpler, asi indeed, 15 entirely the ca&e with all our remedies. How, if they were devoid of \\it^ could they awaken in 
the diseased and half-dead membei-s and bodies of men a fresh and vital strength^ and at the very oiitwt re^itore 
ihem 7 ... I therefore boldly assert that Dietali and clones, equally with root;;, hcrbst and fniitSii have a life of 
their own, with this distinction, however, inasmuch as metaSs are t>f«:{>ared and elaborated according to time* The 
efBcacy of time i^ welMcnown, but we wit! apeak onty of tho«e things which ore difficult, and not to be grasped by the 
5ienses, but, indeed, axe almost contrary to their evidence. Further, even xigns, characters, and lettej^ have their virtues 
and eificadcs. Now, if the nature and property of the melal, aft also the influence and operation of the heaven and of 
the sphere of the planets, the sigiufication and fomution of the character^, ^igns, and letterii, together with the 
observation of the timeft, days, and houra, harmanisie and agree, why should not a sign or seal compoM^I after this 
manner have ii<i own force and operation ? And why, then, »hould not such and such a medicine, seasonably applied, 
bcnei^t the liead, another the vision, or a third the veins T And especLallj'^ in the ca»e of thos^e who dislike to take other 
remedies into the body. Yet none of these results are possible without the air_of the Father of Medicine Himself, JesuA 
Christ, the one and true Phj'sician. Objectors may say that words or characten^ have no force, since they arc mere 
signs or figure*, and that none at least can compare in eflicacy with the cro*5. But how is it that the serpent in 
Ilelvetia, Algovia, or Suavia, undenptand^ the Greek phrase Cj/, Otytt^ Osi , although in none oftheiw countries ii Greek 
so common that venomous reptiles can acquire it ? How is it that, the moment they hear the wordv they draw in their 
tails, »top up their ears, and, contrary to their nature, lie motion! a-ss, without doing harm to any man ? . , . By this 
it ts shewn that characters, words, and si^lu have a recondite and latent force, not in the lex%t opposed to Nature, nor 
ajoything to do with superstition. It L^ found that these words have th« same eflfect when they are written on paper, and 
not uttered. So, also, let it not be considered incredible that a man should be cured by medicine, even when he docs 
not take it internally, but carries it suspended like a seal from his neck. That even in dead things there is a certain 
force, I prove by the example of the kingfisher, for if, when it is dead, you remove its skin, atki hang it up, you will see 
that, although it Li dry, it will annually cast its old feathers and produce fresh ones of the same colour- ^AtrA/dijjtn 
Mag-icfft Lib. h For it h certain that in the very signs themselves of the planets, if they are harmonised and carried 
about in the required mar.ncr, according to a favourable hour and time, as regards their course, there reside great force 
and virtue. For none can deny that the superior stars and inllucncea of hcas-en ha^e very great weight in transient and 
mortal aifairs. If the superior stars and planets are able to control, rule, and sway according to their will the animal 
man, although he be made according to the image of God, and be endowed with life and reason, how much more ought 
threy to rule an inferior thing, th»t is to say. metals, stones, and images, upon which they^ impress themselves, or which 
ihey to occupy, with all their virtue and efficac>', after the manner of aJi influence, as though they were subataniially 
present, even as they arc in the firmament T It i* possible to man himself to bring these into a certain medium, wherein 
ihey may efiTectually operate, whether this medium be a metal, a stone, or an image. But this is most important of all : 
10 know that the seven planets have greater force in nothing than they possess in their proper metals. —y^j'#^, 
UK VII 



1 1 8 The Hertnetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

copper, gold, iron, and steel — that they may quickly liquefy. Many tinctures 
and Elyxeria {sc) of metals are prepared thus for transmuting metals, as will 
be more copiously described in other books on Metallic Transmutations.* 

The same is the case with common mercury, which with its fume penetrates 
all other metals, and, as it were, breaks through them, calcines them, and dis- 
poses them to its own nature, Metals will coagulate this by their fume. We 
assert that the most extreme heat resides in Mercury, and that it cannot be co- 
agulated except by extreme cold, which is seen to exhale copiously irom metals 
in the fire. Nothing aflfects metals in the fire save what is of extreme cold 
and unable to bear the vehemence of the fire. Such a metal is arsenic, which 
being liquefied ascends as a spirit from metals while they are in a state of flux. 

Moreover, do not lose sight of the fact that Mercury is a metallic spirit, 
and that every spirit is more powerful than a body. So is it w^ith Mercury in 
reference to the other metals* Just as it is easy for a spirit to penetrate walls, 
so it is not difficult for Mercur}^ to penetrate metals. 

How many are the wonderful operations and effects of Mercurj^ on the 
metals ! We cannot detail them all. But shall w-e send you away empty to 
some other source? We know from experiment that if Afercuru/s vivas be 
sublimated from some one of the metals which'has been several times calcined, 
and if then the calcinated metal which remains at the bottom be again reduced 
to its metal, it is melted in the fire as easily as lead, though it were gold, silver, 
copper, iron, or steel, even if it be only applied to the flame of a candle like so 
much wax ; or as snow and ice melt before the sun. Afterwards by digestion 
for a certain time it can be changed into Mercury. We have mentioned this 



• The fourth Tliook of ihc AtxhtdeisU Mag^iar U eaUiled, Cifitceming tht Traiumtttatiam »f Atttalt and tJuir 
Time* It \% litenJIy a* follows :— If you se«k to chiuige gold into silvett or any given metal into any other metzJ. have 
regard to the following tahulation. Nor is it of small moment so that yo« may be able to arrive at the end of your 
ptLrpO!se more quickly and thoroughly. Scheme op the TiSANSMUTATtON ok MerAL&— To utuismute Sol tfito 
Luna, Venus, Man. Jupiter, Saturn» or Mercury, begin with Luna occupying the sixth grade of Cancer^, Taurus, Arieif 
Pisces, Aquarius, or Virgo, as the ca^ may be^, and alwa^'s in the hour of that planet into which you i»ish to convert 
gold or any of the other mctal^K, namely, Luna, Venu4, Mars Jupiter, Sotum, Mercury. To tnuumute Saturn into SoJ, 
Luna, Mai^, Vcnu*, Jupiter, or Mercury, begin with Luna occupying the twentieth grade of Lea, ScoqJto, Canoer, 
Taurus, Places, or Virgo, as the case may be, in the hour of Sol, Luna, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, or Mercury, according to 
the metal into which you would convert Saturn- To transmute Mercury into Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or 
Saturn, begin with the Moon in the first grade of t*eo, Virgo, Cancer, Taurus, Pisces, or Aquarius, as the case may be, 
In the hour of Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn, according to the metal uito which you would convert Met* 
curjf. To transmute Luna into Sol, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Mercury, begin with tbc Moon in the twelfth 
grade of Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittariu.^, Aries, or Gemini, as the case may be„ hnd in the hour of Sol, Venus, Mars, 
Jupiter, SaUira, or Mercury, according to the metal into which you would convert Lunnu To iran^mnte Venus into 
Sol, Luna, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, or Mercury, begin with the Mcjon in the nindi grade of Leo, Cancer, Capricorn, 
Aquarius, Pisce*, or Sagittarius, as th*^ case may be, and in the hour of Sol, Luna^ Mars, Jupitnr, Saturn, or Mercury, 
according to the metzd into which you would convert Venus. To convert Mars into Sol, Luna, Venus, Jupiter. Saturn, 
or Mercury, begin with the Moon in the eighty-first grade of Leo, Cancer, Taurus, Sagittarius, Scoq>io, or Virgo, as 
llie case may be, and in the hour of Sol, Luna, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, or Mercury, according to the metal into which 
you would convert KCars. To tran.sjnule Jupicer into Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Saturn, or Mercury^ begin with the 
Moon in the third grade of Leo, Cancer, Libra, Virgo, Aquarius, or Pieces, as the case may be, and in the hour of Sol, 
Luna, Venus, Mars, Saturn, or Mercury, according to the metal into which you would convert Jupiter. For example : 
If you wish to change gold into silver, make a beginning in the hour of the Moon, wlicn the Moon occupies the sixth 
grade of Cancer. And so, likewise, understand the rest of this scheme for the conversion of metals* For all terrestrial 
alTairs, occupations, and matters of butioe^, are most conveniently and happily executed in harmony with the motions 
of the heavens and the planets. For all men, by the dispensations of Almighty God, arc ruled and led by the power 
and operation of the Urmament, both as to health and disease. So is it necessary before fiJl things to have regard to 
this operation in the healing art Simples very frequently push forth their virtues according to a certain rule of 
time. 



The Composition of Metah. 



119 



fact in our book on the Resuscitation of Natural Things. This is the Mercury 
of the PhiloLSophers. In this way you will prepare the Mercury of Gold, of 
Luna» of Venus, of Mars, of Jupiter, and of Saturn. AUhough in their books 
Arnold, Aristotle, and other philosophers boast about this, yet I am well assured 
that it was never prepared or seen by them. It will now be for you to keep 
this great secret and mystery of Nature, and to take care that it does not fall 
into the hands of my adversaries ; since it would be an indignity for them to 
get to know it. A pearl or a precious stone will not please a goose, because 
the goose does not know its price and value. It w^ould infinitely prefer a turnip. 
We may fitly say the same of the sophists. It is no injustice to conceal secret 
mysteries from them* Let us not seem to cast pearls before swine or give that 
which is holy to dogSi since God sternly forbids us so to do. 

But let us proceed to the practical work of our electnim, as we promised 
at the outset. We would have it prepared, compounded, and conjoined 
according to the revolution of the heaven and the conjunctions of the planets. 
We will proceed in this way. First, you must diligently observe the conjunction 
of Saturn and Mercury ; and, before this occurs, have ready the appliances you 
require. These are, fire, a cauldron, lead cut up into minute pieces, and 
Mercurius vivus^ Take care that nothing be wanting which the work in hand 
requires, or for lack of which the action may be hindered or retarded. Then 
when the conjunction is just going to take place, let the lead be melted in the 
fire, and be .not quite hot when it shall have fused, lest the Mercury which you 
pour in escape, or, if the heat be too great, pass oflf in smoke. Let this be 
done at the very moment of conjunction. Take out suddenly the cauldron 
with the liquid lead J pour in the Mercury, and afterwards let them both be 
coagulated. 

Then there will be need of attention when the conjunction of Jupiter with 
Mercury or Saturn is about to take place, so that you may not be ignorant of 
the time or pass it by. Let everything you will want be ready to hand as I before 
admonished you. You must take care, before the actual moment of conjunction, 
to melt in one vessel fine English tin, and in the other lead with Mercury. At 
the moment of conjunction move the metals from the fire, slackening the heat 
a little, and pour al! into one crucible* When they have coagulated into one 
body you will have three metals softer and more easily melting over the fire. 
When they are united let it not escape your notice that in the very first place 
these are to be dissolved and conjoined. Then notice when there is a con- 
junction of any of the other four planets — Sol, Luna, Venus, or Mars — with 
one of the three former, Saturn, Mercur\% or Jupiter, Have all instruments 
and materials ready. Let them be dissolved singly first ; then when liquefied 
pour them into one at the very point of conjunction, and keep them. In a 
like way proceed with other metals which are to be joined and copulated with 
the former, until you have reduced and united all the seven according to the 
due conjunctions of the planets. So will you have prepared our electrum, 
concerning which enough has now been said. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK THE FIRST. 

Concerning the Generation of Natural Things. 

THE generation of all natural things is twofold* : one which takes place 
by Nature without Art, the other which is brought about by Art, that 
is to say, by Alchemy, though, generally, it might be said that all things 
are generated from the earth by the help of putrefaction. For putrefaction 
is the highest grade, and the first initiative to generation. But putrefaction 
originates .from a moist heat. For a constant moist heat produces putrefaction 
and transmutes all natural things from their first form and essence, as well as 
their force and efficacy, into something else. For as putrefaction in the bowels 
transmutes and reduces all foods into dung, so, also, without the belly, 
putrefaction in glass transmutes all things from one form to another, from one 
essence to another, from one colour to another, from one odour to another, 
from one virtue to another, from one force to another, from one set of 
properties to another, and, in a word, from one quality to another. For it is 
known and proved by daily experience that many good things which are 
healthful and a medicine, become, after their putrefaction, bad, unwholesome, 
and mere poison. So, on the other hand, many things are bad, unwholesome, 
poisonous, and hurtful, which after their putrefaction become good, lose all 
their evil effect, and make notable medicines. For putrefaction brings forth 
great effects, as we have a good example in the sacred gospel, where Christ 
says, ** Unless a grain of wheat be cast forth into a field and putrefy, it cannot 
bear fruit a hundred fold.'* Hence it may be known that many things are 
multiplied by putrefaction so that they produce excellent fruit. For 
putrefaction is the change and death of all things, and the destruction of the 
first essence of all natural objects, from whence there issues forth for us 
regeneration and a new birth ten thousand times better than before. 

Since, then, putrefaction is the first step and commencement of 
generation, it is in the highest degree necessary that we should thoroughly 

* There is another aspect in which generation is also twofold, as, for example, that of wood and other things takes 
place naturally out of seed. But the worms which destroy wood are the product of a monstrous sperrn. Hence there 
are two generations - natural and monstrous. -Every sperm in living things has within it another sperm which is mon* 
strous, and can promote its likeness. There Is also a monstrous <:perm in .^11 minerals.— /*<f»7ix"n«/»A/»rw/// Lib. II., 
Par. IV. 



Concern ing the Nature of Things. 



121 



understand this process. But there are many kinds of putrefaction » and 
one produces its generation better than another, one more quickly than 
another. We have also said that what is moist and warm constitutes 
the first grade and the beginning of putrefaction, which procreates all 
things as a hen procreates her ^gg^- Wherefore by and in putrefaction 
everything becomes mucilaginous phlegm and living matter, whatever it 
eventually turns out to be. You see an example in eggs, wherein is 
mucilaginous moisture, which by continuous heat put re lies and is quickened 
into the living chicken, not only by the heat which comes from the hen, but by 
any similar heat. For by such a degree of heat e^gs can be brought to 
maturity in glass, and by the heat of ashes, so that they become living birds. 
Any man, too, can bring the Qgg to maturity under his own arm and 
procreate the chicken as well as the hen. And here something more is to be 
noticed. If the living bird be burned to dust and ashes in a sealed cucurbite 
with the third degree of fire, and then, still shut up, be putrefied with the 
highest degree of putrefaction in a venter equin us so as to become a mucilaginous 
phlegm, then that phlegm can again be brought to maturity, and so, renovated 
and restored, can become a living bird, provided the phlegm be once more 
enclosed in its jar or receptacle. This is to revive the dead by regeneration 
and clan6cation, which is indeed a great and profound miracle of Nature. 
By this process all birds can be killed and again made to live, to be renovated 
and restored* This is the very greatest and highest miracle and mystery of 
God, which God has disclosed to mortal man. For you must know that in 
this way men can be generated without natural father and mother j that is to 
say; not in the natural way from the woman, but by the art and industry of a 
skilled Spag)Tist a man can be born and grow, as will hereafter be described. 

It is also possible to Nature that men should be born from animals, and 
this result has natural causes, but still it cannot be produced without heresy 
and impiety. If a man have connection with an animal, and that animal, like 
a woman, receives the seed of the man with appetite and lust into its womb, and 
shuts it up there, then the seed necessarily putrefies, and, through the continuous 
heat of the body, a man, and not an animal, is born from it. For always, 
whatever seed is sown, such a fruit is produced from it. If this were not so it 
would be against the light of Nature and contrary^ to philosophy. Whatever 
the seed is, such is the herb which springs from it. From the seed of an onion 
an onion springs up, not a rose, a nut, or a lettuce. So, too, from corn comes 
corn ; from barley, barley ; from oats, oats. Thus it is, too, with all other 
fruits which have seeds and are sown. 

In like manner, it is possible, and not contrary to Nature, that from 
a woman and a man an irrational animal should be born. Neither on this 
account should the same judgment be passed on a w^oman as on a man, that 
is, she should not on this account be deemed heretical, as if she had acted 
contrary to Nature ; but the result must be assigned to imagination. Imagin- 
ation is very frequently the cause of this : and the imagination of a pregnant 



122 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

woman is so active that in conceiving seed into her body she can transmute 
the fcBtus in different ways : since her interior stars are so strongly directed to 
the fcetus that they produce impression and influence. Wherefore an infant in 
the mother's womb is, during its formation, as much in the hand and under the 
%vill of the mother as clay in the hand of the potter, who from it forms and 
makes what he likes and whatever pleases him. So the pregnant mother 
forms the fruit in her own body according to her imagination, and as her stars 
are. Thus it often happens that from the seed of a man are begotten cattle or 
other horrible monsters, as the imagination of the mother was strongly directed 
towards the embrj^o.* 

But as you have already heard that many and various things are gener- 
ated and quickened out of putrefaction, so you should know that from dilTerent 
herbs, by a process of putrefaction, animals are produced, as those who have 
experience of such matters are aware. Here, too, you should learn that such 
animals as are produced in and by putrefaction do all of them contain some 
poison and are venomous ; but one contains far more and more potent virus 
than another, and one is in one form, another in another, as you see in the 
case of serpents, toads, frogs, basilisks, spiders, bees, ants, and many worms» 
such as canker-worms, in locusts, and other creatures, all of which are pro- 
duced out of putrefaction. For many monsters are produced amongst animals. 
There are those monsters, too, which are not produced by putrefaction, but are 
made by art in the glass, as has been said, since they often appear in very wonder- 
ful form and horrible aspect ; frequently, for instance, with many heads, many 
feet, or many tails, and o^ diverse colours j sometimes worms with fishes' tails 
or birds* wings, and other unwonted shapes, the like of which one had never 
before seen. It is not, therefore, only animals which have no parents, or are 
born from parents unlike themselves, that are called monsters, but those which 
are produced in other ways. Thus you see with regard to the basilisk, which 
is a monster above all others, and than which none is to be more dreaded, 
since a man can be killed by the very sight and appearance of it, for It pos- 
sesses a poison more virulent than all others, with which nothing else in the 
world can be compared. This poison, by some unknown means, it carries in 



* Here, as elsewhere throughout his writingSi, Paracelsus lay^ «pecidl stress on the power cxerd>i«d by the itnagin- 
alion.— It is necessary that you should know what can be accomplUhed by a strong imaginalion. It i» the pdnciplc of 
all magical action.—/?* P*st*^ Lib. L The imagination of man is an expulsive virtue- ~-/^V Pnte^ s. v. Addiinmrnta 
%H Lib. L The imagination dwelling in the brain is the moon of the microcosm*—/?/ Fesfiiitatt^ Tract !!.» c. a, 
D* PyromaHiku Ptti*, AU our sufTering^* all our vices are notlting els,e than imaginatioru , . . And this im- 
agination is such thai It penetrates and asccntJs into the 5U|>erior heaven^ and pa.sj.cs from iitar to star. This same 
heaven il overcome*^ and mtxieratcs. . , » Whatsoever there ii in us of immodcmte and inhuniant all ihat is an 
imaginAttvc nature, which can impress ilsel Ton heaven, and, this done, heaven has, on the other hand, the power of 
reftuxliiig that imprecision. — Dt Puti^ Addifamruta in Lib. L, ProL So, also, a strong imagwation is the f^ource of 
both good and evil fortune.— Z>r Ptstt^ Lib. IL, c s. Any strong appetite^, desire^ or incliimUon nourished by the 

ijtiagination of a pregnant woman can be and is ohtn impressed upon the fu^tuii. It is alito possible for such a woman, 
by pcTsis-temly thinking upon a wise and great man, such as Plato or Aristotte ; an illustrious soldier, such as Julius 
CsBfiar or Dajrbajpofisa ; a great musician, Itkc HofThammer ; or a paintert tike Durcr ; so to work upon the plastic ten* 
dencicsof her oHi^pring, that it will exliibit .similar qualiiiei. But there must be something also in the mother wlttch 
shall correspond to ihe special talents which she has imagined-— Z?# Oriiine M9rb0ruM Invhibiiinm^ Lib. IIL 
Imagination can distort and deform the fostos, and in this manner many wonders ar« produced, when there are no 
physical peculiarities In the parent. -'/^fVi^ 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



123 



Its eyes, and it is a poison that acts on the imagination, not altogether unlike 
a menstruous woman, who aliso carries poison in her eyes, in such a way that 
from her very glance the mirror becomes spotted and stained. So, too, if she 
looks at a wound or a sore, she affects it in a similar way, and prevents its 
cure* By her breath, too, as well as by her look, she affects many objects, ren- 
dering them corrupted and weak, and also by her touch* You see that if she 
handles wine during her monthly courses it soon turns and becomes thick* 
Vinegar which she handles perishes and becomes useless. Generous wine 
loses its potency. In like manner, amber, civet, musk, and other strongly 
smelling substances being carried and handled by such a woman lose their odoun 
Gold, corals, and many gems are deprived of their colour, just as the mirrors 
are affected In this way* But — to return to my proposal of writing about the 
basilisk — how it carries its poison in its eye. You must know that it gets 
that power and that poison from unclean women, as has been said above. For 
the basilisk is produced and grows from the chief impurity of a woman, 
namely, from the menstrual blood. So, too, from the blood of the semen ; if it 
be placed in a glass receptacle and allowed to putrefy in horse dung, from that 
putrefaction a basilisk is produced* But who would be so bold and daring 
as to wish to produce it, even to take it and at once kill it, unless he had first 
clothed and protected himself with mirrors ? I would persuade no one to do so, 
and wish to advise everj* one to be cautious* But, to go on with our treatise 
about monsters, know that monstous growths amongst animals, which are pro- 
duced by other methods than propagation from those like themselves, rarely 
live long, especially near or amongst other animals, since by their engrafted 
nature, and by the divine arrangement, all monsters are hateful to animals 
duly begotten from their own likeness. So, too, monstrous human growths 
seldom Il%^e long. The more wonderful and worthy of regard they are, the 
sooner death comes upon them ; so much so that scarcely any one of them 
exceeds the third day in the presence of human beings, unless it be at once 
carried into a secret place and segregated from all men. It should be known, 
forsooth, that God abhors monsters of this kind. They displease Him, and 
none of them can be saved when they do not bear the likeness of God, 0\m^ 
can only conjecture that they are shapen by the Devil, and born for the service 
of the Devi! rather than of God ; since from no monster was any good work 
ever derived, but, on the contrary, evil and sin, and all kinds of diabolical craft. 
For as the executioner marks his sons when he cuts off their ears, gouges out 
their eyes, brands their cheeks, cuts off their fingers, hands, or head, so the Devil, 
too, marks his own sons, through the imagination of the mother, which they 
derh^e from her evil desires, lusts, and thoughts in conception. All men, 
therefore, should be avoided who have more or less than the usual numbers of 
any member, or have any member duplicated- For that is a presage of the 
Devil, and a certain sign of hidden wickedness and craft,* 



• A special IrcAtiwe on tbk subject and cugnatc matters is found diewhere in tlie Geneva folio- It is, briefly,, aa 
foJJtnrs. There iltc many monsters in the «ca which are not products of the original crciLtion, but are born frotn the 



1 24 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

But neither must we by any means forget the generation of homunculi. 
For there is some truth in this thing, although for a long time it was held in a 
most occult manner and with secrecy, while there was no little doubt and 
question among some of the old Philosophers, whether it was possible to 
Nature and Art, that a man should be begotten without the female body and the 
natural womb, I answer hereto, that this is in no way opposed to Spagyric 
Art and to Nature, nay, that it is perfectly possible. In order to accomplish It, 
you must proceed thus. Let the semen of a man putrefy by itself in a sealed 
cucurbite with the highest putrefaction of the venter eqttinus for forty days, or 
until it begins at last to live, move, and be agitated, which can easily be seen. 
After this time it will be in some degree like a human being, but, nevertheless, 
transparent and without body. If now, after this, it be every day nourished 
and fed cautiously and prudently with the arcanum of human bloody and kept 
for forty weeks in the perpetual and equal heat of a venter equinits, it becomes, 
thenceforth a true and living infant, having all the members of a child that is 
born from a woman, but much smaller. This we call a homunculus ; and it 
should be afterwards educated with the greatest care and zeal, until it grows up 
and begins to display intelligence. Now, this is one of the greatest secrets which 
God has revealed to mortal and fallible man. It is a miracle and marvel of God, 
an arcanum above all arcana, and deserves to be kept secret until the last 



sperm of fUhes of unlike spedes coming togetlier contrary to tbc genuine order of Nature- Thus mon^ten are some- 
times found in the sea exhibiting the form of miin, which yet have not been generated ex SMi^fmr'a from men, hut ci4ru>e 
by the conjunction of diverse fishes. . . * Even among metj moasters are someiimes, found that remind its portly of 
a human being, and partly of an animal. This is a repellent subject, but re(|uire» to be fully explmued, that the (ir^t 
birth may be <forrectly understood. The ssune also takes place in the sea. There is, for example, the syren, of which 
the tipprr parts arc thoM of a woman and the lower those of a fish* This docs not form part of the original creation, but 
it a Hybrid oJTspting from ibt union of two fishes of the same kind, hut of difiercnt forois. Other marine animals are 
also found, which, without corresponding exactly to man. yet resemble him more than any other Aninuih However, like 
the rest of the brutes, they lack mind or souh They have the Aairte Teblions to man Vks the ape» and are nothing but the 
apes of the sea. As ofien as they unite, marine moa&ier^ of i\\\s kind are produced. Another such monstrous generation li 
the monachus or monk-like fish. But there are many genera of fishe<^ and many modes of generationr which do not alwa>'Ts 
result from the sperm familiar or customary to them, hut happen in various other %^'nys. For example, certain monsters 
ore drowned in the sea, and are devoured by the fishes. Now, if a spcnut constituted in exaltation, were to perish by 
immentOG, and, having liieen consumed by a fi?-h, were again exalted within it, a certain operation would undoubtedly 
follow ftiQcn the nature of the fish and the sperm, whence it may be gathered that the majonty of cnarine animals which 
recall the human form are in this manner produced. Vett having the ruiture of a fish, they live in the waters and rejoice 
therein. The marine dog, the marine spider, and the marine man are of this class. If they are generated in any other 
way^ It most be set down to Aodomia. But there may be a third causey namely, when spermatica ofthi^s kind acquire diges- 
tion, and by reason of this conjunction a birth ukes pbce. . . . Monsters are likewise generated in the air, from the 
droppings of the stars from above. For a sperm falls from the stars. The winds nho in their counM^s bring many strange 
things from other regions to which they arc indigenous. The sperm of spiders, toads, and other creatutne!^ floating in the 
air are resolved, and hence other living things are produced. In this way grasshoppers and other monsters are begot* 
ten, their generation being of one only and not of two. Such births are more venomous and impure than are other 
worm^ There fore* houses ovight to be scrupulously cleaned, or else so constructed as not to fa%'Our the accumulation of 
much filtb. For the air is efficadous ag;Eutut seeds dispersed in this manner. The earth Is, however, the most fruitful 
matrix of monstrous growths. Tl>ere the animals both of land and sea congregate. The basilUk is generated from the 
sperm of a toad and a cock- The sperm of the cock uniting with that of the hen produces an egg. Bui if the cock emit 
his sperm without the hen doing likewise, the egg witl be imperfect, and something will lie generated unn&tumJIy, 
There is another kind of basilisk, produced by die union, itfaetnidcf., of a cock and a toad. After the same maJineTt 
lizards unite with geckoes, and the copulation produces a peculiar worm, partaking of the nature of each, and known as 
a_ dragon. The asp is another instance of this unuatuml generation. . . « From all that has been set down we may 
leom thai whoever lives for his body alone U a basilisk, a dragon, and an asp, not, indeed, generated as yet, but meim- 
while moving alive until he dies. You can now understand tlie ftbomlnalJe manner wherein unnatural monsicr^ are 
generated. For if a man live* in sperm, his very sperms turn into worms, and remain worms, and in the day of the 
resurrection shall they be buried in the deepest parts of the earth, over which shall walk tho?ie who have riseru — Dt 
AmmalfSttt mattM tje S&damhw. 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



125 



timeSi when there shall be nothing hidden, but all things shall be made manifest. 
fAnd although up to this time it has not been known to men, it was, neverthe- 
less, known to the wood-sprites and nymphs and giants long ago^ because they 
themselves w^ere sprung from this source ; since from such homunculi when 
they come to manhood are produced giants, pigmies, and other marvellous 
people, who are the instruments of great things, who get great victories over 
their enemies, and know all secret and hidden niatters*j^ As by Art they 
reacquire their life, by Art acquire their body, flesh, bones and blood, and are 
I born by Art, therefore Art is incorporated in them and born with them, and 
I there is no need for them to learn, but others are compelled to learn from them, 
since they are sprung from Art and live by it, as a rose or a flower in a garden, 
and are called the children of the w*ood-sprites and the nymphs, because in their 
^irtue they are not like men, but like spirits. 

Here, too, it would be necessary to speak about the generation of metals, 
but since we have written sufficiently of these in our book on The Generation 
of Metals, we will treat the matter very briefly here; and only in a short space 
point out what we there omitted. KnoWi then, that all the seven metals are 
born from a threefold matter, namely, Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, but with 
distinct and peculiar colourings. In this way, Hermes truly said that aJt the 
seven metals were made and compounded of three substances, and in like 
manner also tinctures and the Philosophers* Stone. These three substances 
he names Spirit, Soul, and Body» But he did not point out how this was to be 
understood, or what he meant by it, though possibly he might also have known 
the three principles, but he makes no mention of them. I do not therefore say 
that he was in error, but that he was silent. Now% in order that these three dis- 
tinct substances may be rightly understood, namely, spirit, soul, and body, it 
should be known that they signify nothing else than the three principles, Mercur>', 
Sulphur, and Salt, from which all the seven metals are generated. For 
Mercur}* is the spirit, Sulphur is the soul, and Salt is the body. The metal 
between the spirit and the body, concerning %vhich Hermes speaks, is the soul, 
which indeed is Sulphur. It unites those two contraries, the body and the 
spirit, and changes them into one essence. But it must not be understood 
that from any Mercury, and any Sulphur, and any Salt, these seven metals can 
be generated, or, in like manner, the Tincture or the Philosophers' Stone by 
the Art and the industry of the Alchemist in the fire ; but all these seven 
metals must be generated in the mountains by the Archeus of the earth, t The 



* Elsewhere Pxiracclsus state:^ that infants a}« bom from S)iphx^ and dwarfs from plgtnles. Of these monsters are 
producetl, ASt for example, nymphs ."md syrens. Albck these o.re rare, they have appeared with Mifficient frequency, and 
in such a ntarr-elloa^ manncTt that there can be no doubt of their existence. - D^ Ny»*^kit, f^f/^miis^ Saiatftatuirts^ tie. 
With regard to the generation of homunculi there b al^o the following passage r— Borro hoc etiam .sciendittn e^t, sodom* 
itas hujusomodi sperma quandoquc etiam in o& eja£tiLari« Quod si in «tomachum tanquoni in matricem redpiatur, ex 
ipso ibi monstrum, aui homunculu^, aut simile aliud geDeratur, ac inde morbi multi, iique diJSciles surgunt, taxndiv 
ssyientes, donee generatumexcernatur. — /)^ Homttmnlu <t AfemstHt. 

t As a sure and fundaroentaJ conclusion to those things which have been advanced, let it be notJ^«tj to tho^e who 
desire to be acquainted with the true essence and origin of metals^ that our metals are nothing else than the most poteiit 
iU)d beat p«tl of comtnoa ttocia-^tbe spirit, glt(t«n, greasef butter^ oil, and fatnos of staDCSf whicb« while still combined 



1 26 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

alchemist will more easily transmute metals than gfenerate or make them. 
Nevertheless^ live Mercurj^ is the mother of all the seven metals, and desei^^es 
to be called the Mother of Metals. For it is an open metal and, as it were, 
contains in itself all the colours which it renders up from itself in the fire ; 
and so also, in an occult manner, it contains in itself all metals w^hich without 
fire it does not yield up from itself. But the regeneration and renovation of 
metals takes place thus : As man can return to the womb of his mother, that 
is, to the earth from which the first man sprang-, and thus can be born again 
anew at the last day, so also all metals can return to quick mercury, can be- 
come Mercury, and be regenerated and clarified by fire, if they remain for forty 
weeks in perpetual heat» like a child in its mother's womb. Now^ they are 
born, however, not as common metals, but as metals w^hich tinge ; for 
if, as has been said, Luna is regenerated, It will afterwards tinge all metals to 
Luna. So gold tinges other metals to Sol, and in like manner it must be 
understood of all other metals. Now, when Hermes said that the soul was 
the on!y medium which joins the spirit to the body, he had no inadequate con- 
ception of the truth. And since Sulphur is that soul, and, like fire, it hastens 
on and prepares all things, it can also link together the spirit and the body, 
incorporate and unite them, so that a most noble body shall be produced. Yet 
it is not common combustible sulphur which is to be esteemed the soul of 
metals ; but thai soul is another combustible and corruptible body. It cannot, 
therefore, be burnt wnth any fire, since it is itself entirely fire, and, in 
truth, it is nothing but the Quintessence of Sulphur, which is extracted by the 
spirit of wine from Reverberated Sulphur, and is ruby coloured and clear as 
the ruby itself. This is indeed a mighty and excellent arcanum for transmuting 
white metals, and for coagulating quick mercury into fixed and approved 
gold. Hold this in commendation as a treasure for making you rich ; and you 
should be contented with this secret alone m the transmutation of metals. Con- 
cerning the generation of minerals and semi-metals, no more need be known 
than we stated at the beginning concerning the metals, namely, that they are 
produced, in like manner, from those three principles, Mercurj', Sulphur, and 
Salt, though notj like the metals, from these principles in their perfection, but 
from the more imperfect and weaker Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, yet still with 
their distinct colours. 

The generation of gems takes place by, and flows out from, the subtlety 
of the earth, from the clear and crj^stalline Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, also 



in the ttone, are not good, not pure, not clean, and are altogetber wanting in perfect Lon. For this reaston they ajre lo 
be sought, found, and known in atones, and thencCt also, mtist be separated and extracted by pounding and liquefaction. 
When this has been effected ihcy are no longer itones, but prepared and complete metaK agreelnfi; with the celestial 
Stan I which stoneSt indeed, are secreted from the terrciitnal stars. Furthermore, if anyone desire to invcstiEate and to 
know mineraU arid metals, he should clearly realLse that they are not alwajii lo be sought in the common and familiaj- 
minerar, nor in the depths of mountains, because they are very often found more easily, and in greater abundisnce, upon 
the surface of the earth than in its IjoweU. For this rea^sn, any stone that may oflTer Itself to the eye, Mhethcr 
great or small, rock or ilint» should be diligently examined as to its property and nature, for very often a small fijul 
despised pebble tSi of greater value than a cow. So, also, there is common dust and sand which are abounding in Sol 
and \,VkX\7^—Chirurgia. Min^r^ Dt C^ntracthriA^ Tract 11. , tanctniio* 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 127 

according to their own distinct colours.* The generation of common stones is 
from the subtlety of water, by the mucilaginous Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. 
For all stones are produced by the mucilage of w^ater, as also pebbles and sand 
are coagulated from the same source into stones, t This is patent to the eyes : 
for every stone placed in water soon draws the mucilage to itself. If, now, 
that mucilaginous matter be taken from such stones and coagulated in a 
cucurbite, a stone will be produced of the same kind as would of itself be 
produced and coagulated in the water, but after a long period of time. 



* The generation of gems in Ares occurs after this manner : When the gross genera of stones have heen all 
extracted out of Ares, a certain subtlety remains, more diaphanoas in its nature than are other stones, and out of this the 
Archeus subsequently procreates gems after such a manner that hardness and very great transparency are first prepared. 
Hence the gems are afterwards developed, each according to its own form and essence. Very great subtlety and artifice 
are employed over this generation. — Dt EUmento Aqutt^ Tract IV., c la 

t The body of every kind of stone is sulphur, as that of metals is mercury. The hardness is from salt, and the 
density from mercury.— /^f</., c. 5. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK II. 

Concerning the Growth of Natural Things. 

IT is clear enough, and well known to everybody, that all natural things 
grow and mature by warmth and moisture, as is plainly demonstrated by 
the rain followed up with sunshine. None can deny that the earth is 
rendered fruitful by the rain, and all must confess that every kind of fruit is 
ripened by the sun. Since, then, by the Divine institution, this is possible to 
Nature, who will deny or refuse to believe that man possesses this same power 
by a prudent and skilful pursuit of the Alchemical Art, so that he shall render 
the fruitless fruitful, the unripe ripe, and make all increase and grow ? The 
Scripture says that God subjected all created things to man, and handed them 
over to him as if they were his own property, so that he might use them for 
his necessity, that he might have dominion over the fishes of the sea, the 
fowls of the air, and everything on the earth without exception. Wherefore 
man ought to rejoice because God has illuminated him and endowed him, so 
that all God's creatures are compelled to. obey Him and to be subject to Him, 
especially all the earth, together with all things which are born, live, and 
move in it and upon it. Since, then, we see with our eyes, and are taught 
by daily experience, that the oftener and the more plentifully the rain moistens 
the earth, and the sun dries it again with its heat and glow, the sooner the 
fruits of the earth come forth and ripen, while all fruits increase and grow, 
whatever be the time of year, let none wonder that the alchemist, too, by 
manifold imbibitions and distillations, can produce the same effect. For what 
is rain but the imbibition of the earth ? What are the heat and glow of the 
sun other than the sun's process of distillation, which again extracts the 
humidity ? Wherefore I say that it is possible by such co-optation in the 
middle of winter to produce green herbs, flowers, and fruits, by means of 
earth and water, from seed and root. Now, if this takes place with herbs and 
flowers, it will take place in many other similar things too, as, for instance, 
in all minerals, the imperfect metals whereof can be ripened with mineral 
water by the industry and art of the skilled alchemist. So, too, can all 
marchasites, granites, zincs, arsenics, talcs, cachimiae, bismuths, antimonies, 
etc., all of which carry with them immature Sol and Luna, be so ripened as to 



Concerning ike Nature of Things. 



I ig 



be made equal to the richest veins of gold and silver^ only by such co-optation. 
So, also, the Elixir and Tinctures of metals are matured and perfected. 

Since, therefore, humidity and warmth mature all things and make them 
grow, let none wonder that, after a long timCi in the c^ase of a criminal on the 
gibbet, the beard, hair, and nails grow ; nor let this be taken for a sign of 
innocence, as the ignorant read it. It is only natural, and proceeds from 
natural causes. As long as there is moisture in the body, the nails, beard, 
and hair grow ; and, what is more, in the case of a man buried in the earth 
itself, nails, beard, and hair grow up to the second year, or up to the time of 
the man's decay. 

It should be known, too, that many substances grow and increase perpet- 
ually in size, weight, and virtue, both in water and on land, in each of which 
they remain good and effective, such, for example, as metals, marchasites, 
cachymiae, talcs, granites^ antimony, bismuths, gems, pearls, corals, all 
stones and clays. So also it can be brought about that Sol shall grow and 
increase in weight and in body, if only it be buried in land looking east, and 
be constantly fertilised with fresh human urine and pigeons* dung. 

It is also possible for gold to be so acted upon by the Industry and art of 
the skilled alchemist that it will grow in a cucurbite with many wonderful 
branches and leaves, which experiment is very pleasant to behold, and full of 
mangels. The process is as follows : Let gold be calcined by means of aqua 
regis so that it becomes a chalky lime ; whiclT^place in a cucurbite, pouring in 
good and fresh aqua regis and water of gradation so that it exceeds four 
fingers across. Extract it again with the third degree of fire until nothing 
more ascends. Again pour over it distilled vi^ater, and once more extract by 
distillation as before. Do this until you see the Sol rise in the glass and grow 
in the form of a tree with many branches and leaves. Thus there is produced 
from Sol a wonderful and beautiful shrub which alchemists call the Golden 
Herb, or the Philosophers* Tree. The process is the same with the other 
metals, save that the calcination may be different, and some other aqua fortis 
may have to be used. This I leave to your experience. If you are practised 
in Alchemy you will do what is right in these details. 

Know also that any flint may be taken out of river water, placed in a 
cucurbite* and sprinkled with Its own running water until the cucurbite is full. 
This may again be extracted by distillation, as long as a single drop ascends, 
until the stone be dry. Let the cucurbite be again filled with this water, and 
once more extracted. Repeat this until the cucurbite is filled with this stone. 
In this way, by means of Alchemy, in a few days you will see that a very large 
stone can be made, such as the Archeus oi the waters could scarcely make in 
many years. If you afterwards break the cucurbite on a stone you will have a 
flint in the shape of the cucurbite, just as though It had been poured into the 
glass. Though this may be oi no profit to you, still it is a very wonderful 
thing. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK III. 

Concerning the Preservation of Natltral Things. 

IN order that a thing: may be preserved and defended from injur}% it is neces- 
sary that first of all its enemy should be known, so that It may be shielded 
therefrom, and that it may not be hurt or corrupted by it, in its substance, 
virtue, force, or in any other way suffer loss. A g-ood deal depends upon this, 
then^ that the enemy of all natural things should be recognised ; for who can 
guard himself against loss and adverse chance if he is ignorant of his enemy ? 
Surely, no one. It is therefore necessary that such enemy should be known. 
There are many enemies ; and it is just as necessary to know the bad as the 
good. Who, in fact, can know the good without a knowledge of the evil ? 
No one- No one who has never been sick knows how great a treasure health 
is. Who knows what joy is, that was never sad or sorrowful ? And who knows 
rightly about what God is, who knows nothing about the devi!? Wherefore 
since God has made known to us the enemy of our soul, that is, the devil, He 
also points out to us the enemy of our life, that is, death, which is the enemy 
of our body, of our health, the enemy of medicine, and of all natural things. 
He has made known this enemy to us and also how and by what means we 
must escape htm. For as there is no disease against which there has not been 
created and discovered a medicine which cures and drives it away, so there is 
always one thing placed over against another — one water ov-^er against another, 
one stone over against another, one mineral over against another, one poison 
over against another, one metal over against another — and the same in many 
other matters, all of which it is not necessary to recount here. 

But it ought to be known how, and by what means, each several thing is 
preserv^ed and guarded from loss : that many things, for instance, have to be 
kept for a long time in the earth. All roots, especially, remain for a long 
while in the earth fruitful and uncorrupted. In like manner, herbs and 
flowers and all fruits keep undecayed and green in water. So also many other 
fruits, and especially apples, can be preserved in water» and protected from 
every decay, until new apples are produced. 

So also flesh and blood, which very soon putrefy and become rancid, can 
be kept in cold spring water ; and not only so, but by the co-optation of 
renewed and fresh spring water they can be transmuted into a quintessence, 



Camerning the Nature of Things. 



'3' 



and conserved for ever from decay and bad odour without any balsam. And 
not only does this process preserve flesh and blood, but {so to say) it preserves 
all other kinds of flesh and bloody and especially the body of man, from all 
decay and from many diseases which arise from decay, better than the 
common mumia does,* But in order that blood may be preserved of itself from 
decay and ill odour, and not as a quintessence ; and in order, also, to protect 
other blood, as aforesaid, you must use this process : Let the blood be 
separated from its phlegm, which moves of itself, and is driven to the surface. 
Draw off this water by a dexterous inclination of the vessel, and add to the 
blood a sufficient quantity of the water of salt, which we teach you in our 
Chirurgia Magna how to make.t This water at once mingles with the blood, 
and so conserves the blood that it never putrefies or grows rancid, but remains 
fresh and exceedingly red after many years, just as well as on the first day ; 
w^hich, indeed, is a great marvel. But if you do not know ho%v to prepare this 
water, or have none at hand, pour on a sufficient quantity of the best and 
most excellent balsam, which produces the same effect. Now this blood is the 
Balsam of Balsams, and is called the Arcanum of Blood. It is of such great 
and wonderful virtue as would be incredible were we to mention it. Therefore 
you will keep this occult, as a great secret in medicine. 

In the conservation of metals the first thing to learn is what are their 
enemies, so that they may be thereby the better kept from loss* The principal 
enemies of metals, then, are all strong waters ; all aqu® regiEC, all corrosives 
and salts, shew their hostility in this circumstance, that they mortify all 
metals, calcine them, corrupt them, and reduce them to nothing, Crude 
sulphur shews its hostility by its smoke ; for by its smoke it takes away the 
colour and redness from Venus, and renders it white. From white metals, as 
Luna, Jupiter* Saturn, and Mars, it takes away their whiteness and reddens 
them, or induces in them a reddish colour. From gold it takes away the 
agreeable yellowness and golden tint, renders it black, and makes it as 
uncomely as possible. 

Antimony shews its hostility in this : that it spoils all metals w4th which 
it isHquefied in the fire, and with which it is mixed ; it deprives and robs them ; 
moreover, like the sulphur, it robs metals of their genuine colour and 
substitutes another. 

Quicksilver, on the other hand, exercises a hostile force upon the metals 
with which it is conjoined, in that it invades and dissolves them so that it 
makes an amalgam from them. Moreover, its smoke, which wx call the soot 
of Mercury, makes all metals immalleable and fragile ; it calcines them and 
whitens all red and gold coloured metals. It is the chief enemy of iron and 



• According to one eirpknatton ; ^umia w mati himself. Munib k balsam, which beak wounth,~/'araMvrnirf^ - 
D* Ofigimi Marh^mms Lib, ILtC. a. The virtues of all herb* are found in ihJA Munna.— Z?^ Origin* McrhttrtttH 
iHtfttibiifum^ LiK IV. Whoever se<ki opoponax will Mnd it in Mumia (that is„ in the Mumin which 1% inait), and so 
al>o all other creature* whatsoever — /^iV, Now, thi* is Mumia : If a mjui be deprived of life, then hi* ffower hursts 
forth in potencies and nacural arcanin. - Hid, 

t This process will be fbumi in Uie tecofid footnote o«i p. 76 of the present volume. 

K2 



132 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings 0/ Paracelsus. 

steel, for if common mercur)* touches a steel rod, or if the rod be 
anointed with mercurial oil, it can afterwards be broken like glass 
and cut off. This is indeed a g^reat secret and must be kept strictly 
occult. In the same way, too, the mag-net should be guarded and kept 
from Mercur)-, for it exerts hostility on It as on Mars. For every magnet 
which common mercury touches, or which is anointed with mercurial oiI» or 
only placed in Mercur>% never afterwards attracts iron** Let no one be surprised 
at this ; there is a natural cause for it, seeing that Mercury extracts the spirit 
of iron which the magnet holds latent in itself. Wherefore also the spirit of iron in 
the magnet attracts the body of Mars to itself; and this happens not only in 
the magnet but in all other natural things, so that the foreign spirit w^hich is 
in an alien body, which is not of its own nature, always attracts a body 
agreeing w^ith its own nature. This should be known not only of the magnet, 
but of all natural bodies, such as minerals^ stones, herbs^ roots, men, and 
animals. 

After this it should be known that metals exercise hostility amongst each 
other, and mutually hate one another from their inborn nature ; as you see in 
the case of Saturn, which is the principal enemy of Sol^ from its congenital 
nature. It breaks up all the members of gold, renders it deformed, weak, and 
destroys and corrupts it even to the death, more than it does any other metal. 
It also hates tin, and is an enemy of all the metals, for it renders them degen- 
erate, unmalleable, hard and unfit, if it be mixed with either of them in fire or 
Bux. 

Since, therefore, you have now heard about the enemies of the metals, 
learn, moreover, about their preservation and conservation, which guard 
the metals from all loss and corruption, and, in addition, strengthen them in 
their nature and virtue, while they graduate them more highly in colour. First, 
then, it ought to be known concerning gold that it cannot be better and more 
beautifully preserved than in boys' urine, in which has been dissolved sal am- 
moniac, or in the water of sal ammoniac alone. In these, w^ith time, it acquires 
such a high grade of colour as cannot be surpassed. Silver cannot be better 
preserved and conserved than if it be boiled in common water or ace turn in 
u^hich have been dissolved tartar and salt. In this way any old silver, though 
blackened and stained, is renewed, If It is boiled thus. Of iron and steel the 
best and most useful conservative and preservative is fresh, not salted, lard 
from a gelded sow. This protects all iron and steel from rust if they are 
anointed therewith once every month. In like manner, if iron be liquefied 
with fixed arsenic, and occasionally reduced to a flux, it can be so renewed and 
fixed that, like silver, it never rusts. Copper can be conserved and preserved 
if only it be mixed with sublimated Mercury, or anointed with oil of salt, so 



•So, also^i I is affirmed that if Ute magnet be steeped in Karllc it mil be deprived of its attractive virtue.— l>r 
Mitrhis AmtHtium, c. 5. Shauld anyone make use of a magnet while he is wearing a sappfalrc, it will eflfecl 
nothing till the gem be removedl. The same quality «eems to reside in carabc^ coagulale of gum, rcsIn, and there* 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



^IZ 



that for the future it gives forth no vitriol or verdigris, nor does it become of a 
green colour. 

Lead cannot be conserved better than in cold water, and in a damp place, 
such is its nature. But for the conservation of the magnet nothing is better 
than filings of iron or steel. If the magnet be placed in these, not only does 
not its force decrease, but it grows more and more every day. 

As to the conservation of salts, and all those substances which are of a 
salt nature, and are comprised under the name of salt, of which there are more 
than a hundred, it is well to know that they must be kept in a warm and dry 
place, and guarded well from the air in wooden chests. They must not be placed 
on glass, stone, or metal » By these they are dissoh^ed and turn into water 
and amalgam ; but this does not occur in wood. 

Moreover, you should learn the method of conserving certain waters and 
liquids by means ot pressed herbs, roots, and other fruits and growing things, 
which easily absorb all mustiness and mould just as if a skin were wrapped 
around them. Let these waters, or other liquids, be placed in a glass vessel, nar- 
row at the top and wider below. Let the vessel be filled to the top and then some 
drops of olive oil added, so that all the water or liquid may be covered. The 
oil will float at the top, and, in this way, will protect the liquid or the water a 
long time from mustiness or mould. No water or liquid, if it be covered with 
oil, can ev^er become mouldy or smell badly. In this way also two waters, two 
liquids, two wines, can be kept separately in one vessel, so that they shall not 
mix ; and not only two, but three, four, five, or still more, if only oil be between 
them, for they are separated by the oil as by a wall, which does not suffer them 
to be conjoined and united. For oil and water are two contraries, and neither 
can mingle with the other. As the oil does not allow the waters to mix, so, 
on the other hand, the water prevents the oils from blending. 

For the conservation and preservation of cloth and garments from moth, so 
that they may not eat them or settle in them, nothing is better than mastix, 
camphor, ambergris, or musk : but the best is civet^ which not only preser\'es 
from moth, but drives away and puts to flight moths, with other wornis, 
fleas, lice, and bugs. 

All timbers can be conserved, as in buildings or bridges, so that they shall 
never decay, whether they be in water, under water, or out of the water, in the 
ground, under the ground, or out of the ground, whether exposed to rain or 
wind, air, snow, or ice, in summer or winter, and moreover, preventing them from 
decaying or worms breeding in them when felled. The method of conservation 
in this case is that grand arcanum against all putrefactions, and so remarkable 
a secret that no other can compare with it. It is none other than the oil of 
sulphur, the process for making which is as follows : — Let common yellow 
sulphur be pulverised and placed in a cucurbite. Over it pour as much aqua- 
fortis as will cover four fingers across. Abstract this by distillation three or 
four times, the last time until it is completely drj'. Let the sulphur which 
remains at the bottom* and fs of a dark reddish colour, be placed in marble or 



134 The Hermetic and Alcheviical Writings of Paraceisus. 

glass and easily dissolved into an oil. This is a great secret in the conservation 
of timber so that it may never decay and may be protected from worms. For 
if sulphur be prepared as aforesaid, and turned into an oil, it afterwards 
tinges the timber which has been anointed with it so that it can never be 
obliterated. Many other things, also, can be conserved and preserved from 
decay in this oil of sulphur, especially ropes and cables in ships and on the 
masts of ships, in chariots, fishing-nets, birdcatchers* and hunters* snares, and 
other like things which are being frequently used in water and rain, and would 
otherwise be liable to decay and break ; so also with linen cloths and other 
similar things. 

The conservation of potable things, too, should be noticed, under w^hich 
we comprise wine, beer, hydromel, vinegar, and milk. If we wish to keep 
these five unharmed and in their virtue, it is necessary to know their chief 
enemy- This is none other than unclean women at the time of their monthly 
courses. They corrupt these things if they handle or have anything to do with 
them, if they look at them, or Breathe on them. The wine is changed and 
becomes thick, beer and hydromel turn sour, vinegar is weakened and loses 
its acidity, milk also becomes sour and clotted. 

Thts» therefore, should be well known before anything is said specially 
about the conservation of one of these things in particular. Moreover, the 
chief preservative of wine is sulphur and oil of sulphur* by means of which alJ 
wnne can be preserved for a verj^ long time, so that it neither thickens nor is 
in any way changed » 

The means of conserving beer is by oil of gar}^ophyllon, if a few drops of 
it are put in, so that one measure has two or three drops. Better still is the 
oil of benedicta garyophyllata, which preserves beer from acidity. The pre- 
servative for hydromel is the oil of sugar^ which must be used in the same way 
* as the oil of garj'ophylion or the benedicta. 

The preservative of vinegar is oil of ginger, and of milk the expressed oil 
of almonds. These two must be used as described above. 

The presen^ative of cheese is the herb liypericon or perforata, which 
protects all cheeses from worms. If it be placed against the cheese and 
touches it, no w^orm is produced in it, and if some have been alread}' produced, 
they die and drop out of the cheese. 

Honey has no special preservative^ only it must be protected from its 
enemy. Its chief enemy is bread. If ever so small a quantity of bread made 
from flour be put or fall into it, the whole honey is turned into ants, and 
perishes entirely. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS, 



BOOK IV. 



Concerning the Life of Natural Things* 

NONE can deny that the air gives life to all corporeal and substantial 
things which are born and generated from the earth. But as to what 
and of what kind the life of each particular thing is, it should be 
known that the life of things is none other than a spiritual essence, an 
invisible and impalpable thing, a spirit and a spiritual thing. On this account 
there is nothing corporeal but has latent within itself a spirit and life, which, 
as just now said, is none other than a spiritual thing** But not only that 
lives which moves and acts, as men, animals, worms in the earth, birds under 
the sky, fishes in the sea, but also all corporeal and substantial things* For 
here we should know that God, at the beginning of the creation of all things, 
created no body whatever without its own spirit, which spirit it contains after 
an occult manner within itself. For what is the body without the spirit ? 
Absolutely nothing. So it is that the spirit holds concealed within itself the 
virtue and power of the thing, and not the body. For in the body is death, 
and the body is subject to death, and in the body nothing but death must be 
looked for. For the body can be destroyed and corrupted in various ways, 
but not the spirit : for it always remains a living spirit, and is bound up with 
life. It also keeps its ow^n body alive, but in the removal of the body from it, 
it leaves the body separate and dead, and returns to its own place whence it 
had come, that is to say, into chaos, and into the air of the higher and lower 
firmament. Hence it is evident that there are different kinds of spirits, just 
as there are different kinds of bodies. There are celestial and infernal spirit^i, 
human and metallic, the spirits of salts, gems, and marcasites, arsenical 
spirits^ spirits of potables, of roots, of liquids, of flesh, blood, bones, etc. 
Wherefore you may know that the spirit is in very truth the life and balsam 



* Life is a veil or covering which eudose^ three pniKipIes— sulphur, salt, ami ratTCiiTy, -ParitinirttM, lib, I 
The life of the body is fire-— i)*- EttU Asirvrttm^ c 6, There b a Iwofold lire in nmn : there b the life of the soul, 
which proceeds from the nature of God ; Imt I ^pcsik here as a phy^iciaiir and not as a iheolagin.n. ITicfc in al«o a life 
of the animal kind, which is of air aud firc> and the same i» dotntcittd in the body, which i» eanh and water. So 
b m^n dowered wjib an animal and a sidereal life, — Z?*- Pfs/t7i/ai^, Tract I. In ant^lhcr sen-ie the lift of man is s-ifd 
t he triplex —nccrocomic» cagastric, and *alnitric. But this has reference to the animal life only ^Li6*rAfittA. Tw.a 
which »u&taim the Itody i* the life, but ibe Tifc itself is from Cod, and not from man^ Thi* fife con!&ist!i in four 
thiDE.s- hutiwury, conipleicion». natural Apet:ic^, and gifts or virtue*. -/>«' GfHrr^ti<fH£ f/^mmn. 



136 The Htrnieiic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 



of all corporeal things. Now we will go on to its species, and here will 
describe to you in detail, but as briefly as possible, the life of each natural 
thing. 

The life, then, oi all men is none other than a certain astral balsam,* a 
balsamic impression, a celestial and invisible fire, an included air, and a spirit 
of salt which tinges. I am unable to name it more clearly, although it could 
be put forward under many distinctive titles. Since, however, the chief and 
the best are here pointed out, we will be silent as to the rest and the inferior 
names. 

The life of metals is a latent fatness which they have received from 
sulphur. This is shewn from their fluxion, because everything which passes 
into flux in the fire does so on account of its hidden fatness. Unless this were 
so no metal could be reduced to a fluid state, as we see in the case of iron and 
steel, which have the least Sulphur and fatness of all the metals, wherefore 
they are of a drier nature than all the rest of them. 

The life of mercury is nothing but inner heat and outer frigidity. That is 
to say, within it gives heat^ but without it causes cold ; and in this respect it 
is aptly to be compared to a garment of skins, which, like mercury, causes 
both heat and cold. For if a garment of this kind be worn by a man, it 
warms him and protects him from the cold ; but if he wears the hairless part 
against his naked body, it causes cold, and defends him from excessive heat. 
So it came about that iti very ancient times, and it is even the custom still, 
that these coats of skin are worn both in summer and in winter, as much 
against the heat as against the cold ; in summer the hairless part is turned 
within, and the hairy part outside, but in the cold winter season the hair}^ part 
is turned within and the hairless pari outside. As it is with the garment of 
skins, so is it with mercury. 

The life of sulphur is a combustible, ill-smelling fatness. Whilst it flames 
and sends forth its evil odour it may be said to live. 

The life of all salts is nothing else but a spirit of aqua fortis : for when 
the water is abstracted from them, that which remains at the bottom Is called 
dead earth. 

The life of gems and corals is mere colour, which can be taken from them 
by spirits of wine. The life oi pearls is their briglitness, which they lose in 
their calcination. The life of the magnet is the spirit oi iron, which can be 
extracted and taken away by rectified tnnum aniens itself^ or by spirit of wine. 

The life of flints is a mucilaginous matter. The life of marcasites, cachy- 
mia;, talc, cobalt, zinc, granites, z witter, vismat (rude tin), is a metallic spirit 
of antimony, which has the power to tinge. Of arsenicals, auripigment, 
orpiment, realgar, and similar matters, the life is a mineral coagulated poison. 



* Thi: l!t^li »i>d tiliLKxi of nvsit\ .ire prcscn-ed and fiusmtied fay a certain baUain. Now« ihis balBam is the body of 
iAu Sot iheriifare, by >alt Is miui |»rcMrrvctl a* by .1 balsam.— ZV Af<tr6is 7'a*£nrtUt c. »i. The balsam of man cxiiti 
ftlike in all hb inciiilier«. and i^ spt-cialistd ihcmn-ui ihc IjIockI, in the in^irroiv, in the bonCT, the arteries, etc.— 
Ckintrg'iA Magnm^ \aK V. 



Concerning ike Nature of Things. 



137 



The life of wavelike substances^ that is to say, of the dung of men and 
animals, is their strong and fcetid smell. When this is lost they are dead. 

The life of aromatic substances, to wit» musk, ambergris, civet, and what- 
ever emits a strong, sweet, and pleasant odour, is nothing but that grateful 
odour itself. If they lose this they are dead and useless. 

The life of sweet things, as sugar, honey, manna, fistula cassise, and the 
like, is a subtle sweetness, with the power to tinge ; for if that sweetness be 
taken away by distillation, or sublimation, the things are dead, fatuous, and 
no longer of any value. 

The life of resins, as caraba, turpentine, and gum, is a mucilaginous, 
glittering fatness. They all give excellent varnish ; when they no longer 
furnish this, and lose their glitter, they are dead. 

The life of herbs, roots, apples, and other fruits of this kind, is nothing 
else than the liquid of the earth, which they spontaneously lose if they are 
deprived of water and earth. 

The life of wood is a certain resin, .'^ny wood that is deprived of resin 
is unable longer to flourish. 

The life of bones is the liquid of mumia. The life of flesh and blood is 
none other than the spirit of salt, which preserves them from ill odour and 
decay, and spontaneously, as the water is separated from them. 

But concerning the life of the elements there is this to be known. The 
life of water is its flowing. When it is coagulated by the cold of the 
firmament and congealed into ice, then it is dead, and all power of doing harm 
is taken from it, since no one can any longer be drowned in it. 

So, too, the life of fire is air, for the air makes the fire blaze more strongly 
and with greater impetuosity. Some air proceeds from all fire, sufficient to 
extinguish a candle or to lift a light feather, as is evident to the eyes. All live 
fire, therefore, if it be shut up or deprived of the power to send forth its air, 
must be suffocated. 

The air lives of itself, and gives life to all other things. The earth, 
however, is of itself dead ; but its own element is its invisible and occult life. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK V. 



Concerning the Death of Natural Things. 

THE death of all natural things is nothing^ else but an alteration and 
removal of their powers and virtues, an overthrow of their potencies 
for evil or for g'ood, an overwhelming and blotting out of their former 
nature, and the generation of a new and different nature.* For it should be 
known that many things which in life were good, and had their own virtues, 
retain little or none of that virtue when they are dead, but appear altogether 
fatuous and powerless. So, on the other hand, many things in their life are 
evilj but in death, or after they have been mortifiedj they display a manifold 
power and efficac^^ and do much good. We could recount many examples of 
this» but that is altogether foreign to our purpose. Vet, in order that you may 
see that I do not write from my mere opinion^ however plausible, but from my 
experience, it is well that I should adduce one example with which I will 
quiet and silence the sophists who say that nothing can be gained from dead 
things, nor anything ought to be sought or found in them. The cause of this 
assertion is that they value at nothing the preparations of the alchemists, by 
which many great secrets of this kind are discovered. For look at Mercury, 
live and crude sulphur, and crude antimony ; as they are brought from the 
mines, that is, while they are still living, how small is their virtue, how lightly 
and tardily do they exercise their influence. Indeed, they bring more evil than 
good, and are ratljer a poison than a medicine. But if, by the industry of a 
skilled alchemist, they are corrupted into their first substance and prudently 
prepared (that is, if the Mercury be coagulated, precipitated, sublimated, 
resolved, and turned into oil ; the sulphur be sublimated, calcined, reverber- 
ated and turned into oil ; and, in like manner, Venus be sublimated, calcined, 
reverberated, and turned into oil), you see what usefulness, what power and 
virtue, and what rapid efficiency they afford and display, so that none can fully 
speak or write of it. For their manifold virtues are not to be investigated, nor 
can anyone search them out. Every alchemist, therefore, and every faithful 



• Death is the mother of tinctures, for tinctures proceed from the mortification of the body, in %vhii:h the cdotir^ 
lire contained^ even as In a seed there are green, yellow, black, blue^ and ptirple colours^, which tirr, nevcrihe- 
IcsSi invisible uniil the «eed has perished in the earth, and till the sun has prepared and produced therti, hi thAt uhat 
wft* first hidden from the Minaes is now revealed to them-— Z?*? IctfritiU, 



Concirning the Nature of Things, 



U9 



physician, ought to seek into these three things during his whole life, and even 
lip to his death should play with them and find his pastime in them. Most 
assuredly they will nobly compensate him for all his labour, study, and 
expense. 

But let us come to particulars, and specially describe the death and morti- 
fication of each natural thing, what its death is» and in what way it is 
mortified. First of all, then, with regard to the death of man, it should be 
understood that, beyond a doubt, it is nothing else but the end of his day*s 
work, the taking away his air, the evanescence of his balsam, the extinction of 
his natural light, and the entire separation of the three substances, body, soul, 
and spirit, and the return to his mother*s womb. For since the natural earth- 
born man comes from the earth, the earth, too, will be his mother, into which he 
must return, and therein lose his earthborn natural flesh, so that at the last 
day he may be regenerated in a new^ a heavenly, and purified flesh, as Christ 
said to Nicodemus w^hen he came to Him by night. For, as we said, the^e 
words apply to regeneration. 

But the death or mortification of the metals is the removal of their bodily 
structure, and of the sulphurous fatness which can be removed from them in many 
ways, as by calcination, reverberation, resolution, cementation, and sublimation. 
But the calcination of metals is not of a single kind only. For one is produced 
by salt, one by mercury, one by strong w*aters, one by ihzfuligo mercttrii and 
quick me^cur}^ Calcination by salt is when the metal is formed into very thin 
plates, and stratified and cemented with salt. Calcination by sulphur is when 
the metal is formed into plates^ stratified and reverberated with sulphur. 
Calcination by strong waters is when the metal is granulated, resolved in aqua 
fortis, and precipitated therein* Calcination by ih^fuligo mercurii is brought 
about thus : Let the metal be formed into plates ; let the mercury be put into 
an earthen vessel, narrow at the top but broad below, and afterwards set on 
a moderate coal fire, which should be blown a little until the mercury begins 
to smoke, and a white cloud issues from the mouth of the vessel. Then let 
the plated metal be placed on the orifice of the vessel Thus the common 
mercury penetrates the metal and renders it as friable as a lump of coaL 
Calcination by quick mercury is when the metal is cleft into small particles, 
made into plates, or granulated, and formed into amalgam with mercury. 
Afterwards let the mercury be pressed out through a skin, and the metal 
will remain within the skin in the form of lime or sand. But beyond these 
mortifications of the metals, destructions and whitenings of their life, you must 
know that there are many other mortifications of the metals. For beyond the 
fact that ail rusting of iron and steel is a death, there are others w^hich are to be 
esteemed as more important. For instance, it should be known that all vitriol, 
or even burnt brass, is mortified copper ; all precipitated, sublimated, calcined 
cinnabar is mortified mercury \ all white lead, red lead, or yellow lead are 
mortified lead ; all lazurius is mortified silver. So, also, all Sol, from which its 
tincture, quintessence, resin, crocus, or sulphur has been withdrawrn, is dead. 



I40 The Hermetic and Akhimical Writings, of Pardcehus. 

because it no longer has the form of gold^ but is a white metal like fixed 
silver- 
But now let us go on to lay before you by what means the mortification of 
the metals is brought about. First of all, it should be known concerning iron 
that it can be mortified and reduced to a crocus in the following way : Form 
very thin plates of steel, beat them red hot, and then extinguish them m 
vinegar made from w4ne. Keep on doing this until you see the vinegar has 
become very red. When you have enough of this red vinegar, pour it all out, 
and distil therefrom the moisture of the vinegar. Coagulate the residuum into 
a dry powder. This is the most excellent Crocus of Mars. There is, however, 
another way of making the Crocus of Mars which partly surpasses the former, 
and is carried out with much less expense and labour, thus : Stratify very thin 
plates of steel with equal quantities of sulphur and tartar* Afterw^ards 
reverberate. This produces the most beautiful crocus, which should be taken 
from the plates. 

In the same way you should be informed that if any plate of iron or steel 
be smeared over with aqua fortis, it renders also a beautiful crocus. Such is 
the result* too, with oil of vitriol, water of salt, water of alum, water of sal 
ammoniac, water of salt nitre, sublimated mercury, all of which mortify iron, 
and reduce it to a crocus ; but none of these methods is to be compared with 
the tw^o mentioned above ; for they can only be used in Alchemy and not in 
medicine ; so use in preference the first two methods, and avoid the rest. 

The mortiiication of copper, to reduce it to vitriol, verdigris, or burnt 
brass, can also be accomplished in various ways ; and there are various pro- 
cesses w^ith this metal, too, but one is better and more useful than another. 
Wherefore it will be %vell to make a note of the best and most useful, and to 
say nothing about the others. The best, easiest, and most reliable method oi 
reducing copper to vitriol is as follows ; Let plates of copper be smeared with 
water of salt or of saltpetre, and hung or exposed in the air until the plates 
begin to become green. Wash off this greenness w^ith clear spring water, 
dry the plates %vith a rag ; again smear the plates with water of salt or salt- 
petre, and again proceed as before, repeating the process until the water 
becomes quite green, or sends forth much vitriol to the surface. Then 
remove the water by tilting the vessel, or by drawing it off, and you will have 
an excellent medicinal vitriol. For Alchemy, there is no more beautiful, 
noble, or better vitriol than that which is made by aqua fortis, or aqua regis » 
or water of sal armoniac. Proceed thus : Let plates of copper be smeared 
wnth one of the aforesaid waters, and as soon as the greenness has been ex- 
tracted, and the plates have been dried, let the greenness be taken off with a 
hare's foot, or by some other means at pleasure, as white lead is scraped off 
leaden plates. Let them be again smeared as before^ until the plates are 
entirely consumed, and thence is produced a ver>^ beautiful vitriol, such as 
you cannot fail to admire* 

Water of saltpetre is made thus : Purify saltpetre, liquefy and pulverise it. 



Coficerning the Nature of Things. 



141 



Afterwards dissoh^e it by itself in a vessel with boiling water. Thus you have 
water of saltpetre. Water of sal ammoniac is made as follows : Calcine sal 
ammoniac and resolve it in a case on marble. This is water of sal ammoniac* 

In order to make verdig-ris from copper there are several ways not 
necessary to recount here. We will therefore describe two only, with a two- 
fold method of preparation, one for Medicine and the other for Alchemy. The 
verdigris used in medicine admits of the ensuing process : Take plates of 
copper, and smear them with the following compound : Take equal 
quantities of honey and vinegar, with a sufficient quantity of salt to make the 
three together the consistence of thick paste. Mix thoroughly, and after- 
wards put in a reverberator}^ or in a potter's furnace, for the same time as the 
potter bakes his vessels, and you will see a black substance adhering to the 
plates. Do not let this circumstance cause you any anxiety or detain you at 
all ; for if you suspend or expose those plates in the open air» in a few days 
the substance will turn green, and will become excellent verdigris, which may be 
called the balsam of copper, and is highly esteemed by all physicians. And 
this need not cause surprise, because the verdigris first becomes green in the 
air, and because the air has the power of transmuting a black colour into such 
a beautiful green. For here it should be known that, as daily experience in 
alchemy proves, every dead earth or caput mortuum^ as soon as ever it comes 
out of the fire into the air, immediately acquires another colour, and loses its 
own colour which It had assumed in the fire. The changes of these colours 
are very diversified. According to the material such are the colours pro- 
duced, though, for the most part, they flow from the blackness of dead earth. 
You who are skilled in Alchemy see that every dead earth, flux of powder, or 
of aqua fortis, comes black from the fire, and the more ingredients there are 
in it the more varied are the colours displayed in the air. Sometimes they 
only appear red, as vitriol makes them ; sometimes only yellow, white, green, 
cerulean j sometimes mingled, as in the rainbow or the peacock's tail All 
these colours display themselves after death, and as a consequence of death. 
For in the death of all natural things new colours appear, and they are 
changed from their first colour into another, each according to its own nature 
and properties. Moreover, we will say about verdigris that which we 
dedicate to Alchemy. The process of its preparation is as follows ; Form 
very thin plates of copper, which stratify on a large tile with equal portions of 
sulphur and tartar, pounded and mixed. Reverberate for twenty-four hours 
with a strong fire, taking care that the copper plates do not melt. Then take 
them out ; break the tile ; expose the plates to the air, with the matter which 
adheres to them, for a few days, and the matter on the plates will be con- 
verted into most beautiful verdigris, which in all strong waters, in waters of 
gradations, in cements and colourings of gold, tinges gold and silver with a 
deep colour. 

But in order that copper may become ms ustttm^ which is also called the 
crocus of copper, the following process must be adopted : let copper be formed 



142 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

into plates, smeared with salt reduced into a paste with the best vinegar, then 
put on a large tilei placed in a blast furnace^ and for a quarter of an hour burnt 
with a strong fire, but so that the plates may not melt. Let these plates, while 
still glowing, be extinguished in vinegar wherein sal ammoniac has been dis- 
solved — half an ounce in a pound of vinegar. Let the plates be again heated, 
and extinguished as before ; but continually scrape off into vinegar the scales 
which adhere to the plates after they have been extinguished, or else knock 
them off by beating the plates, or in any way you can. Keep doing this until 
the plates of copper are nearly consumed. Then let the vinegar be extracted 
by distillation, or let it evaporate in an open vessel, and let it coagulate into a 
very hard stone. Thus you will have the crocus of copper used in Alchemy. 
Many persons commonly make ms tistum^ or the crocus of Venus, from 
Venus by the extraction of alcohol (others of vinum aceti)^ like the crocus of 
Mars ; but I much prefer this method. 

The mortification of Mercury, in order that it may be sublimated, is 
brought about by vitriol and salt. When it is mixed with these two and then 
sublimated it becomes as hard as crystal and as white as snow. In order that 
Mercur>^ may be reduced to a precipitate,* nothing more need be done than 
calcine it in the best aqua fortis ; then let the graduated aqua fortis be 
extracted from it five times, more or less, until the precipitate acquires a beautiful 
red colour. Sweeten this precipitate as much as possible j and finally distil 
the rectified w^ine from it seven or nine times, or as often as necessary, until it 
burns in the fire and does not escape. Then you have the diaphoretic precipi- 
tate of Mercury, 

Moreover, here should be noted a great secret concerning precipitated 
Mercury* If, after its colouration, it be sweetened with water of salt of tartar, 
by distilling it until the water no longer ascends acid, but is altogether sweet, 
then you will have the precipitate as sweet as sugar or honey. This is the 
principal arcanum for all wounds and ulcers and the Gallic disease, insomuch 
that no physician need wish for better ; and it, moreover, brightens up 
despondent alchemists. For it is an augmentation of Sol, it enters into the 
composition of Sol, and by it gold is rendered constant and good. Although, 
then, much labour and toil may be required for this precipitate, it compensates 
for these and returns to you what you have spent. Moreover, you get 
sufficient gain from it — more than you could compass by the highest artifice of 
any kind. You ought, therefore, to rejoice over it, and to thank God and me 



• It b also stated that there is nothing in medicine to compiafe wuh precipitated mercury for the cure of ictericiii. — 
Fragmenta Mgdic*t,%. v. An.Halation^i £» L ib, d$ UUritiii. The medical preparation of the precipitate of mercury as 
a healing unguent ha* been boastfully claimed to their own credit by many* persons, though they are all filched from 
thft writing* of the ancient arti&ts and Spagj-mts. Vigo was not free from tbe disgrace of this faUehood. Precipi- 
tated m^ercur)' ts certainly aii andent remedy, but has lain hidden for a long time by the perftdy of ph>'?»icLaii5. All 
cavernous ulcers (except those of the eating and siireading kind) are completely cured by its use. But experience 
teaches us that the oil of argent vi%'e, when outwardly applied, has much greater efficacy*— /?* Tumoribus^ttc.^ M&r^i 
Galiici, Lib. X* The bloodlike redness of the precipitate of mercury has caused it to be Ignorantly confused with the 
ruddy powder into which the sweet balsam of mercury is reduced when it Li prepared without sublimation or culeination by 
means of the water of eggs. —/^*d!. Precipitated mercury of the metah is the reduction of the metals into their first 
matter* which afterwards l& deposited below, -CAimf^fta Atagfitt, Dt lftif>QiiHmii in A^eriyo GtiUico, Lib. IL 



Conciming the Nature of Things. 



143 



for it. But in order that Mercury may be calcined, I have already said that 
this most be done in sharp aqua fortis, which must be abstracted by 
distillation, and the precipitation is made* But in order that Mercur)^ may be 
reduced to cinnabar,* you must first of all mortify it, and liquefy it, with salt 
and yellow sulphur. Reduce it to a white powder, then put it in a cucurbite ; 
place an aludel above, and sublimate with great fluxion, as is customary. Thus 
the cinnabar ascends into the aludel and adheres to it, as hard as hsematite. 

The mortification of lead, in order that it may be reduced to white lead, 
is two-fold, one for Medicine, the other for Alchemy. The preparation of 
cerussa for Medicine is as follows : Suspend plates of lead in an unglazed 
vessel over strong^ vinegar made from wine, the vessel being well closed so 
that no spirits may escape. Place the vessel in warm ashes, or, in winter, 
behind the fire. Then, after ten or fourteen days, you will find the very best 
cerussa adhering" to the plates. Scrape this off with a hare*s foot, and replace 
the plate over the vinegar until you have sufficient cerussa- The other 
preparation of cerussa for Alchemy is like the formerj save that a quantity of 
the best sal ammoniac must be dissolved in the vinegar. In this way you wnlt 
have a very beautiful cerussa, most subtle for purging tin or lead, or for 
removing whiteness from copper. But if we wish to make red lead out of the 
lead, It must first be calcined to ashes, and afterwards burnt laterally in a glazed 
jar, stirring it continually with an iron wire until it grows red. This minium 
is at once the best and the most valuable, and should be used in Medicine as 
well as in Alchemy. The other, which dealers sell in the shops, is of no 
use. It is made up only of the ashes which remain in the liquefaction of 
lead ore, and the potters buy it for encrusting vessels. Such minium is useful 
only for pictures, but neither for Medicine nor for Alchemy. 

In order to reduce lead to a yellow colour a process is required not 
altogether unlike the preparation of minium* Here, too, the lead must be 
calcined with salt, and reduced to ashes. Afterwards it must be stirred 
continually with iron in one of the wide dishes used by those who test 
minerals, over a moderate coal fire, careful watch being kept lest the heat 
should be too great or the stirring neglected. Otherwise it would melt and 
produce yellow glass. In this way you will have excellent yellow lead. 

The mortification of silver so that lazurium, or some similar substance, 
may be produced from it, is brought about as follows : Let Luna be made 
into plates, mixed with Mercur>^, and suspended In a glazed jar over the best 
vinegar in which auratae have been previously boiled. Afterwards dissolve 
in it sal ammoniac and calcined tartar. In all other particulars proceed as 
directed in the case of cerussa- Then, after fourteen days, you will have the 
most precious and beautiful la>:urium adhering to the silver plates, which you 
will wipe off with a hare*s foot. 



* The pii^'sidans of Montepe&sulano and Salema committed the error ofsupposmg that cuinnhiir was dlfTercot from 
merctiiy, when it Is clear that dicy are the ftatne^ — Dt 1 vmoribus^ ^/f., Mmrhi G^Uticiy Lib. I., c 8« Cinnabar i 
.xtracted from Sotuni and Mnrs by meant ofcnercur)-. - Ihd., Lib. III., c 7, 



144 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

We do not deem it necessary here to repeat the method of mortifying 
gold so that it may be reduced to Us arcana, as, for instance^ to tincture, 
quintessence, resin* crocus, vitriol, and sulphur. These preparations are 
manifold, and for the most part we have already given such secrets in other 
bookSi as the extraction of the Tincture of Sol, the Quintessence of Sol, 
the Mercury of Sol, Sol Potabilis, the resin of Sol, the Crocus of Sol. 
These have been given in the Archidoxa and elsewhere. But the secrets 
omitted there we will impart here. These concern the vitriol of Sol* and 
the sulphur of Sol, which are by no means the least among such secrets, 
and, indeed, ought to delight every physician. In order to extract vitriol 
from Sol, proceed thus : Take two or three marks of pure gold, which 
form into plates and suspend above boys' urinei mixed with grape-berries, 
in a wide glass cucurbite closely sealed at the top. Bury this in a glowing 
heap of grape -berries, as they are taken from the wine-press, and let it 
stand there for a fortnight or three weeks. Then open it, and you will find a 
most subtle colour, which is vitriol of Sol, adhering to the plates of Sol. 
Remove this with a hare's foot, as you have been told in the case of the other 
metals — the crocus of Mars from the plates of iron, the vitriol of Venus and 
verdigris from the plates of copper, the cerussa from the plates of Saturn, 
the lazurium from the plates of Luna — all these being comprised under one 
process, but not with the same preparation. When, therefore, you have 
enough of this vitriol of Sol, boll it well in distilled rain water, stirring it 
continually with some sort of spatula. Then the sulphur of gold rises up 
to the surface like grease, which remove with a spoon. So also proceed 
with other vitriol. After the sulphur is taken away, evaporate that rain 
water to perfect dryness, and the vitriol of Sol will remain at the bottom. 
This you can easily resolve on marble in a damp place. In these two arcana, 
that is to say, the vitriol of gold and the sulphur of gold, a diaphoretic virtue 
is latent. However, we will not describe those virtues here, because we 
have sufficiently indicated them in the book on Metallic Diseases and 
elsewhere. 

The mortification of sulphur consists in taking away its combustible and 
foetid fatness, and reducing it to a fixed substance. This is accomplished in the 
following way : Take common yellow sulphur, reduced to a fine powder, and 
abstract from it the very acrid aqua fortis by a threefold distillation. After* 
wards sweeten the sulphur ivhich remains at the bottom, and is of a black 
colour, with sweet water, repeating the process of distillation continually 
until nothing but sweet %vater proceeds from it and there is no more smell of 
sulphur. Reverberate this sulphur in a closed reverberatory, as in the case of 
antimony. Then it will become, at first white, afterwards, yellow j thirdly, red 



• ArtiTKial vudd% are from, the mincralii of metnlx and cognate substances. But note be« that whal is uiually called 
vitriolated acid U really vitriolated capper of Venus For copper Ls vitriol. If, therefore, the addity be extracted 
from, copptr^ then he who u&es it digests copper. It la the same with aLI the other vitiiolates of metals. * . . In aJl 
mrtak there are vitriolated acid», except if* goW, which docs not know vitriol— Z?# Morbfi Tartartis, c, i6» 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



145 



as cinnabar. When you have it In that form you ought to rejoice ; for it is 
the beginning of wealth for you. This reverberated sulphur tinges any 
silver very deeply so as to turn it into most precious gold, and the human 
body it tinges into its most perfect condition of health. Of so great virtue 
is this reverberated and fixed sulphur. 

The mortification of all salts, and whatever is of a salt nature, is the 
removal and distillation of their watery and oleaginous part, and besides of 
the spirit of salt ; for if these are taken away, they are called afterwards dead 
earth, or caput moritmm. 

The mortification of gems and corals is that they shall be calcined^ subli- 
mated^ and dissolved into a liquid, as the crystal. The mortification of pearls 
is that they be calcined and resolved in sharp vinegar in the form of milk. 

The mortification of the magnet is that it be smeared with oil of mercury 
or touched by common mercury. Afterwards it attracts no iron. 

The mortification of flints and stones is calcination. 

The mortification of marei^sites, cach^^mise, talc, cobalt, zinc, granites, 
zwitter, vismut, and antimony, is sublimation, that is, their being sublimated 
with salt and vitrioL Then their life, which is the metallic spirit, ascends 
with the spirit of salt. Let whatever remains at the bottom of the sublimatory 
be washed, that the salt may be removed from it, and you will have dead earth 
wherein is no virtue. 

The mortification of arsenicals, aunpigment, orpiment, realgar, etc, is 
when they are made fimd with salt nitre, are turned to oil or liquid on marble* 
and fixed. 

The mortification of undulous things is a coagulation of the air» 

The mortification of aromatic substances is the removal of their good 
odour. 

The mortification of sweet things is that they shall be sublimated with 
corrosives and distilled. 

The mortification of carabae, resins, turpentine, and gum is their being 
reduced to oil or varnish, 

The mortification of herbs, roots, and the like is that their oil and water 
shall be distilled from them, the liquid squeezed out in a press, and afterwards 
the alkali extracted, 

The mortification of woods is their being turned into charcoal or ashes. 

The mortification of bones is their calcination. 

The mortification of flesh and blood is the removal of the spirit of salt. 

The mortification of water is produced by fire : for the heat of fire dries up 
and consumes all water. So the mortification of fire is by water ; for the 
water extinguishes the fire and takes away from it its force and effectiveness. 

Thus you are sufficiently informed, in few words, how death is latent in 
all natural things : how they are mortified and reduced to another form and 
nature, as also what virtues flow from them. Whatever else is necessary to say 
we will set down in our book concerning the Resuscitation of Natural Things. 

U 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK THE SIXTH. 

Concerning the Resuscitation of Natural Things. 

THE resuscitation and reduction of natural things is not the least 
important in the nature of things, but a profound and great secret, 
rather divine and angelic than human and natural, I would, however, 
on this point be understood with the greatest discrimination » and in no other 
way than according to my fixed opinion* as Nature daily and clearly points 
out and experience proves ; so that I may not be exposed to the lies and mis- 
representations of my enemies the quack doctors (by whom I am constantly 
ill judged), as if I myself pretended to usurp some divine power, or to attribute 
that same to Nature which she never claims. Therefore^ at this point, the 
most careful observation is necessary, since death is twofold, that is to say, 
violent or spontaneous. From the one, a thing can be resuscitated but not 
from the other. Do not, then, believe the sophists when they tell you that a 
thing once dead or mortified cannot be resuscitated, and when they make 
light of resuscitation and restoration ; for their mistake is great. It is indeed 
true that whatever perishes by its own natural death, or whatever mortifies by 
Nature according to its own predestination, God alone can resuscitate, or that 
it must be done by His divine command. So whatever Nature consumes man 
cannot restore. But whatever man destroys man can restore, and break 
again when restored. Beyond this man by his condition has no power, and if 
any one strove to do more he would be arrogating to himself the power of 
God, and yet would labour in vain and be confounded, unless God were with 
him, or he had such faith that he could remove mountains. To such a man this, 
and still greater things, would be possible, since Scripture says, for Christ 
Himself has said — ** If ye have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, and say to 
this mountain : Depart and place yourself yonder, it would do so and place 
itself there ; and all things shall be possible, and nothing impossible, 
to you.*' 

But let us return to our proposition. What is the difference between 
dying and being mortified, and from which of these conditions is resuscitation 
possible ? The matter is to be understood thus. Whatever dies by its own 
nature has its end according to predestination, and as the pleasure and 




Concerning the Nature of Things, 



dispensation of God arrangfes* But this, too, happens from different diseases 
and accidents, and herefrom there is no resuscitation, nor is thereany preservative 
which can be used against predestination and the cognate end of life. But 
what is mortified can be resuscitated and revivified, as may be proved by many 
arguments which we will set down at the ^nd of this book. So, then, there is 
the greatest difference between dying and mortifying, nor should it be thought 
that these are only two names for one thing. In v^zy deed these differ as 
widely as possible. Examine the case of a man who has died by a natural 
and predestined death. What further good or use is there in him ? None. 
Let him be cast to the worms. But the case is not the same with a man who 
has been slain with a sword or has died some violent death. The whole of 
his body is useful and good, and can be fashioned into the most valuable 
mumia. For though the spirit of life has gone forth from such a body, still 
the balsam remains, in which life is latent, which also, indeed, as a balsam 
conserves other human bodies. So, too, in the instance of metals you see that 
when a metal has a tendency to die it begins to be affected with rust, and that 
which has been so affected is dead ; and when the whole of the metal is 
consumed with rust the whole is dead, and such rust can never be brought 
back to be a metal, but is mere ashes and no metal. It is dead, and 
death is in itself : nor has it any longer the balsam of life, but has 
perished in itself. 

The lime and the ashes of metals also are two-fold, and there is the greatest 
difference between these two. For the one can be revived and brought back 
to be a metal, but not so the other. One is volatile, the other is fixed. One is 
dead, the other is mortified. The ash ts volatile and cannot be brought back to 
be a metal, but only to glass or scoria;. But the lime of metals is fixed and can 
be brought back again into its own metal. If you would understand the 
difference and its cause, know that in the ash there is less fatness and more 
dr)'ness than in the lime, and it is this which gives the fluxion. The lime is 
fatter and more moist than the ash, and still retains its resin and its iTuxion, 
and more especially does it retain the salt which of its own special nature is 
capable of flux, and also makes all metals pass into flux, thereby reducing 
them. Hence it follows with the ashes of metals that they cannot be brought 
back into metals. The salt must be extracted ; then they are perfectly 
volatile. This is the chief point, and must be very carefully noted, since wo 
little depends upon it. Among sham physicians a vast error is prevalent. 
In place of Sol Potabilis, the Quintessence of gold, the Tincture of gold, and 
so on, they have palmed off on men a leprous Calx of Sol, not considering the 
difference or the e%ils resulting therefrom. For two notable and necessary 
facts must here be observed, namely, that either calcined or pulverised Sol, 
when given to men, is congregated into one mass in the bowels, or passes 
out per anum with the dung, and so is vainly and uselessly taken; or else by 
the great internal heat of the body it is reduced, so that it incrusts and clogs 
the bowels, whence ensue many and various diseases, and at last even death. 



14^ The Hervietic and Alchemical Writings 0/ Paracelsus. 

And as with Sol, so also io the case of other metals, you should take no 
metallic arcanum or medicament into the body unless it shall have first been 
rendered volatile, so that it cannot be brought back to its metallic condition. 
Wherefore the first step and beginning: of preparing Aurum Potabile is this ; 
afterwards such a volatile substance can be dissolved by spirit of wine, so 
that both ascend together, becoming volatile and inseparable. Just as you 
prepare gold, in the same way you prepare potable Luna, Venus, Mars, 
Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury* 

But to return to our proposition, and to prove by illustrations and by 
adequate reasons that mortified things are not dead and compelled to 
continue in death, but can be brought back and resuscitated and vitalised 
by man, according to natural guidance and rule* You see this in the case 
of lions, who are all born dead» and are first vitalised by the horrible 
noise of their parents, just as a sleeping person is awakened by a shout. 
So Ihe lions are stirred up ; not that they are sleeping in the same w^ay — 
for one who sleeps a natural sleep would necessarily wake — but this is not 
the case with lions. Unless they were stirred up with this noise they 
would remain dead, and life would never be found in them. Hence it is 
understood that they acquire their life and are vitalised by that noise. Vou 
see the same thing in all animals, except those which are produced from 
putrefaction, like flies, wliicli, it they are drowned in water so that no life 
could be discerned in them, and were so left, would continue dead, and never 
would revive of themselves. But if they are sprinkled with salt and placed 
in the warm sun, or behind a heated furnace, they recover their former life, 
and this is their resuscitation. If this were not done they would remain 
dead. So you see in the case of the serpent. If it be cut in pieces, and 
these pieces be put in a cucurbite, and putrefied in a venter equinus^ the 
whole serpent will revive in the glass in the form of small worms or the 
spawn of fishes. Now, if these little worms are — as they ought to be— 
brought out by putrefaction and nourished, more than a hundred serpents 
will be produced from the one, any single serpent being as big as the original 
one. This can be accomplished by putrefaction alone. And just as with the 
serpent, so many animals c^in be resuscitated, recalled, and restored. By this 
process, with the aid of nigromancy, Hermes and Virgil endeavoured to 
renovate and resuscitate themselves after death, and to be born again as infants, 
but the experiment did not turn out according to their intention and it w^as 
unsuccessful 

Let us, however, pass by these examples, and come to the practical 
method of resuscitation and restoration. It is advisable to begin with metals, 
because metallic bodies more frequently resemble human bodies. KnoWj then, 
that the resuscitation and renovation of metals are twofold : one brings back 
calcined metals by a process of reduction to their original metallic body ; the 
other reduces metals to their first matter. The former is a reduction to 
argenium vivum^ and such, too, is the latter process. Calcine a metal by means 



Concerning the Nature of Things^ 



149 



oi the fultgo Mercurii, Put this calx and a sufficient quantity of the quick- 
silver into a sublimatory, and let them stand for some time, until the two are 
coagulated into one amalgam. Then, by means of sublimation, elevate the 
Mercury from the calx. When elevated, pound it again with the metallic calx, 
and sublimate as before. Repeat this until the metallic calx liquefies over a 
candle, like wax or ice, and the thing is then done. Let this metal be placed 
in digestion for such time as may be required, and the whole will be changed 
into iMefcurius vivtts^ that is, into its first matter. This is called the 
Philosophers* Mercurius of Metals. Many alchemists have sought itt but few 
have found it. So is now prepared Mercurius vivus from all metals, namely, 
Mercurius of Gold, Luna, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. 

The resuscitation or restoration of calcined Mercury is produced by 
distillation in retorts. For only Mercurius vivus ascends into the cold water, 
and the ashes of Saturn, Venus, or sulphur are left. But the resuscitation 
and restoration of sublimed Mercury is brought about in hot water. It is 
necessary, how^ever, that it should first of all be very minutely pounded, so that 
the boiling water may resolve from it the spirit of salt and of vitriol, w^hich it 
raises up with itself in the process of sublimation, and the Mercurius vivus 
runs together at the bottom of the water. If, now, such Mercurius vizms be 
sublimated anew with fresh salt and vitriol, and again be resuscitated in 
boiling water, and if this be repeated seven or nine times, it will be 
impossible to purify and renovate it more effectually* Preserve this as a great 
secret in Alchemy and Medicine, and rejoice over it exceedingly ; for in this 
way all the impurity and blackness and poisonous nature are taken away from 
Mercur}*. The resuscitation, restoration, and renovation of Mercury cannot be 
accomplished without sublimation ; for unless after calcination it be sublimated 
it will never be revivified. Sublimate it, therefore, and afterwards reduce it 
as you would any other sublimated substance. 

The resuscitation of cinnabar, lazurium, aurum musicum, or precipitated 
gold, in order that they may be revived into Mercurius vivus, is effected as 
follows : Take any one of these substances, pound it very fine in a marble 
mortar, and make it into a paste with white of eggs and smegma. Then 
make pills, the size of a nut, which place in a strong earthenware cucurbitc. 
At its orifice arrange an iron plate which has several little holes, and let it be 
fastened with lute. Distil by descent over a strong fire, so that it may fall 
into cold water, and again you will have Mercurius viims. 

The resuscitation and restoration of wood is difficult and arduous ; 
poss-ible, indeed, but not to be accomplished without exceptional skill and 
industr>% The following is the method of its revival : Take wood which has 
been first of all carbon, then ash, and place it in a cucurbite with the resin, 
liquid, and oil of its tree, the same weight of each. Let them be mixed and 
liquefied over a gentle fire* Then there will be produced a mucilaginous 
matter, and so you will have the three principles together from w hich all things 
are born and generated, namely, phlegma, fat, and ash. The phlegma is 



1 50 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Mercurius, the fat is Sulphur, and the ash is Salt. For that which smokes 
and evaporates over the fire is Mercury; what flames and is burnt is Sulphur; 
and all ash is Salt. Now, when you you have these three principles together, 
place them in a venter equinus^ and putrefy for the time required by each 
respectively. If afterwards that matter be buried, or poured into a rich soil, 
you will see it begin to revive, and a tree or a little log will be produced from 
it, which, indeed, is in its nature much higher than the original one. 

This is really wood, and is called resuscitated, renewed, and restored 
wood. It was from the beginning wood, but mortified, destroyed, and reduced 
to coals, to ashes — to nothingness ; and yet from that nothingness it is made 
something, and is reborn. Truly in the light of Nature this is a great 
mystery, that a thing which had altogether lost its form, and had been 
reduced to nothingness, recovers that form and becomes something from 
nothing— something which afterwards is much nobler in its virtue and its 
efficacy than it had been at first 

But, in order that we may speak generally concerning the resuscitation 
and restoration of natural things, this should be understood as the principal 
foundation — that to each thing may be again conceded that which had been 
taken from it and separated in mortification. It is difficult to explain this 
specifically here ; so we will conclude this book, and in the following book 
make these things more clear with regard to the transmutations of natural 
things. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK VIL 

Concerning the Trankmltation of Natural Objects. 

IF we are to write concerning the transmutalion of all natural objects, it is 
just and necessary that, in the first place and before ail else, we should 
point out what transmutation is ; in the second place, w^hat are the 
successive steps thereto ; and, thirdlyt by what means, and in what manner, 
it is broug-ht about. Transmutation, then, takes place when an object loses its 
own form, and is so changed that it bears no resemblance to its anterior shape, 
but assumes another guise, another essence, another colour, another virtue, 
another nature or set of properties : as if a metal becomes glass or stone ; if 
stone or wood becomes coal ; if clay becomes stone and slate ; hide, glue ; 
rag", paper ; and many such things. All these are transmutations of natural 
objects. After this it is most necessary to know the steps to transmutation, 
how^ many there are. There are not more than seven. For although some 
persons reckon a greater number, there are, of a truth, only seven principal 
steps ; the rest which may be included among the steps are comprised in these 
seven. They are the following : 

Calcination, Sltblimation, Solution, Putrefaction, Distillation, 
coagl'lation, tinctlre. 

If anyone ascends that ladder, he will arrive at so wonderful a place that 
he w^ill see and experience many secrets in the transmutation of natural objects. 

The first step, then^ is Calcination,* under which are comprised Rever- 
beration and Cementation. Among these three there is little diflTerence so far 
as relates to Calcination. Here, therefore, Calcination is the principal step, 
for by Reverberation and Cementation many corporeal objects are calcined and 
reduced to ashes, especially metals. What is calcined is not on that account 
reverberated or cemented. By Calcination all metals, minerals, stones, 
glasses, and all corporeal objects, become carbon and ashes ; and this is done 
ill a naked fire, strong, and exposed to the air. By means of this all 



• Due of the Ft^^mfntn Mrdkn coritairicd in the ftrnt vrrlumc: of tli« t^eiieva folio, Mcberj explaining iIm; ^txxss uf 
calcioaikm frutn ihc standpoint of Kemictjc Medkine, otMerve» thAl it i«.eiiunc]itly nec«»iMii> for ih« [thy^ddn Mhocon- 
oerr» himftclf with Alchemy lo ufidrr«(fu»dl culdniittoh arid Ihe virtue »hlch rc%idvi» lh«rcin. 



toJLv (K*j[Ua' 



152 The Hermetic and Alchemical WHtings of Paracelsus. 

tenacious, soft, and fat earth is hardened into stone ; but all stones are reduced 
to lime, as we see in the kiln of the lime burner and the potter respectively. 

Sublimation* is the second step, also very important for the transmutation 
of many natural objects. Under this are included Exaltation* Elevation, and 
Fixationt ; and it is not altogether unlike Distillation. For» as from all phleg- 
matic and watery objects, water ascends in distillation, and is separated from 
its body, so, in the process of Sublimation, in dr)^ substances such as minerals, 
the spiritual is raised from the corporeal, subtilised, and the pure separated 
from the impure. For in Sublimation many excellent virtues and wonderful 
qualities are found in minerals, and many things are fixed and become per- 
manent, so that they remain in the fire in the following way : Let the body 
which is sublimated be ground again and mixed with its own dregs. Let it 
be again sublimated as before, and let this be repeated until it sublimates no 
longer, but all remains in the bottom and is fixed. Thus it will afterwards 
become a stone and an oil when and as often as you wish. For if, having 
refrigerated it, you put it in the air, or in a glass vessel, it is there immediately 
resolved into an oil. If you once more put it in the fire it is again coagulated 
into a stone, which is of great and wonderful powers. But this consider a 
great secret and mystery of Nature, and do not disclose it to sophists. More- 
over, as in Sublimation many corrosives become sweet by the conjunction of 
the two natures, so, on the other hand, many sweet substances become 
sour or bitter \ whilst many bitter things are made sweet as sugar. Here 
it shoidd be remarked, too, that every metal which is brought to a state of 
Sublimation by means of sal ammoniac may afterwards be dissolved into 
an oil in the cold^ or in the air, and, contrariwise, may be coagulated to a 
stone in the fire. This is one of the greatest and most complete transmuta- 
tions in all natural objects, namely, to transmute a metal into a stone. 

The third step is Solution, under which term are comprised Dissolution 
and Resolution. This step frequently follows after Sublimation and Distillation, 
as, for instance^ when you dissolve the matter which remains at the bottom. 
Solution, however, is twofold : one by cold» another by heat ; one out of the 
fire, the other in the fire. The cold process of Solution dissolves all salts, 
corrosives, and calcined bodies. Whatever salt and corrosive quality there may 
be it resolves into an oil» a liquid, or water ; and this takes place in a damp 
and cold chamber, or otherwise in the air only, in marble or glass. For 
everything that is dissolved in the cold contains the sharp spirit of salt, which 
it often acquires and assumes in Sublimation or Distillation. And everything 
which is dissolved in the cold or in the air is again by the heat of fire changed 



• By sublimalion the lower minci-als .arc jwjiar^teil Trora llio^e elcmcni"* which are ihe source of tltcir poverty ttnd 
boAcn^Sf btit in addition to ihis* lh« prote»> h^a* many other viriues^ For cx;»inplc» the •i.uhlim^itbii of qukkiiKcr ha& 
this operation, tliat even the air in it> vicinity has a recreative efTcct. Ym in the air perraeaied hy iuercur>- nil the nr- 
tueaof mercury arc present. In hke manner, the sublinuiilon of ftn»enjc rekn!>«:j» a fervid spirit into the atmosipherti 
which cures quartan fever and other acute dl».civscs — i?*- ^Sortis M^tatluis, Tract III.* c, 5. 

f ExaltAiion. conjttnction. oppo^itiop, and kindred proccsi*^ are not malcrially |tcrfortii««l< but after a mode which 
i* altogether ^^r\i\\s.\.—Paranih'nm, Tr^ict 1 1 T. . c 6, 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



153 



into dust or stone. But the Solution of heat dissolves all fat and sulphurous 
bodies ; and whatever the heat of fire dissolves this the cold coagulates into a 
mass, and whatever the heat coagulates, this the air and the co!d again dissolve. 
This also should be known, that whatever the air or the cold chamber dissolves, 
is of great drj^ness^ and holds concealed within itself acorrosive fire. So what- 
ever is dissolved In fire, and by its heat, has in itself sweetness and cold, but 
not fire. Thus, and in no other way, is Solution to be understood* 

Putrefaction* is the fourth step, under which are comprised Digestion t and 
Circulation, Now Putrefaction is a very important step which might deservedly 
stand firsts only that would be contrary to the just order and to the mystery 
which lies concealed here, and is known to very few. For these steps should 
follow one another in turn, as has been said, like the links in a chain, or the 
rounds of a ladder. For if one of the links of the chain were taken away, the 
chain would be broken and the captive would escape. And so, too, if one of 
the rounds of the ladder should be removed from the middle and put in the 
highest or the lowest place, the ladder too would be broken, and many would fall 
headlong from it and endanger their lives. So understand here that these steps 
follow one another in a just order; otherwise the whole work of our mystery 
would be perverted, and all our toil and pains frustrated and rendered void. 
Putrefaction is of so great efficacy that it blots out the old nature and transmutes 
everything into another new nature, and bears another new fruit. .^11 living 
things die in it, all dead things decay, and then all these dead things regain 
life. Putrefaction takes away the acridity from all corrosive spirits of salt, 
renders them soft and sweet, transmutes their colours, separates the pure from 
the impure, and places the pure higher, the impure lower, each by itself. 

Distillation is the fifth step to the transmutation of all natural objects. 
Under it are understood Ascension, Lavation, Imbibition, Cohobation, and 
Fixation, By Distillation all waters, liquids, and oils are subtilised, the, oil is 
extracted from all fat substances, the water from all liquids, and in all phlegmatic 
substances the oil and the water are separated. 

Moreover, many things in Distillation are fixed by Cohobation, especially 
if the substances to be fixed contain water within them, as %'itriol does. When 
this is fixed it is called colcotar. Alum, if it is fixed with its own water, is 

• Putrefaction U the handmaui of tcporation.— ^Afiix/'A4ir3ivarAN<f/, Tract I. Putrefaction U a new quatitaitve 
generation. — Dt Mods PkarvHiumudiy Tract IIL The firmiiuient produces cotour3>i corruptions, and digestions of 

nutximent, of nature, etc And putrefac lion produces a fucceuion of coloun^ rapidly.— /^/</, AM putrefaction *!<• 

e^^ntLilly and ex€csi\-ely cold.— /7# Tartarp, Lib. II., Tract 11., c 7. Putrefaction h the jtcporatton of virtuei and 
at the loine tiniie U almost a con^r\*ation. — D* SatmraiituM Agnth, Lib. ]V,, Tract 3* 

f Digestion i* putrefaction- — Z?* PfitUitaie^ Tract I. By the process of dij^e&tioii, what u bad and unproAtabIc 
in a tubataikce i^ separated so that the substance rciuaiiu in itjk es^nce, as it was created. In »o far a& it h.-i» become 
vitiiitedi digestion cause» it to purge kitelf, «o that it labours to return into its es^nce^—£)^ Tmrittrit^ Lib. IL, Tract 
IL, c. 3. Between digestion performed in the earth and the digestion which take* pUice in the body of man. thert: i* 
thi» difference, that the earth sepaj^itcs nothing, iJi the sen^sc that it does not cajst otft anything excretnentittously ; it 
dige^vts, putrefies^ generates, and augment.^ by the power and inini'*lr>' of the «>tar^. There i* tui excrctnent^l ^{jiaraLton. 
Wt Uicre \a a *cparaijoJi of seed into sail, sulphur, ;uid mercury'. Vet tlitb iiv not precL»ely a deprtvalton of the earth, 
li«cau«e Uie earth contain* in it»eJlf iah, sulphur, and mercury'- The etutbumureover, requires no nutrimental siipptm after 
(he manner of human t>eing», but the Aeed h ^wn in it just as the maile leecl U sown in the female wooib. The earth 
gcneralia, augments, ajad multiplier try metuin of its own indwetlmg Archetu^.— /7r P$tiiUtaie^ Tract \\. 




154 T^^ Hcrmeiic and Akhemual Writings of Paracelsus, 

called Zuccari. This, too, Is resolved into a liquid, and if it be putrefied for a 
month it produces a water as sweet as sugar, which, indeed, is of great power 
luid an excellent arcanum in medicine for exting-yishingthe microcosmic fire in 
men of a metallic temperament^ as we write more at length in our books on 
Metallic Diseases.* And just as you have heard of vitriol and alum, so also 
salt nitre and other watery minerals can be fixed by cohobation. 

The process of Cohobation is that a caput mortuum is frequently imbibed 
with its own watefi and this is again drawn oflf by means of Distillation. 
Moreover, in Distillation many bitter, sharp, and acrid things become very 
sweet, like honey, sugar, or manna ; and» on the other hand, many sweet things, 
such as honey, sugar, or manna, become sharp, as oil of vitriol or vinegar, or 
bitter, as gall or gentian, or sharp, as corrosive. Many excrementitious things 
lose their excessive stench in distillation, since it passes out into the water. 
Many aromatic things lose their pleasant odour. And just as Sublimation alters 
things in their quality and nature, so does Distillation* 

Coagulation is the sixth step. There is, however, a twofold process of 
Coagulation, one by cold, another by heat ; that is, one of the air, another of 
the fire. Each of these, again, is twofold, so that there are really four pro- 
cesses of Coagulation, two by cold, and two by fire. The Coagulations by 
fire are fixed, the others by cold are not fixed. One, indeed, is produced only 
by common air, or without fire. Another is produced by the upper firmament 
of winter stars, which coagulate all waters into snows and ice. The Coagu- 
lation by fire is produced by the artificial and graduated fire of the alchemist, 
and is fixed and permanent. For whatever such a fire coagulates, that 
becomes permanent. .'Another Coagulation is produced by the /Etnean and 
mineral fire in mountains, which, indeed, the Archeus of the earth rules 
and graduates in much the same way as the alchemist ; and whatever is 
coagulated by such a fire is also ^^yi^^. and constant, though originally its 
matter was mucilaginous, and it is coagulated by the Archeus of the 
earth and by the work of Nature into metals, stones, flints, and other bodies. 
But it should also be known that fire coagulates no water or moisture, but 
only the liquids and juices of all natural things. For this reason no phlegm 
can be coagulated, unless it was originally a corporeal matter, whereto^ 
indeed, it can be again restored by the in dust rj^ of an experienced alchemist. 
So every mucilaginous matter or spermatic lentor caJi, by the heat of fire, be 
coagulated into a body and corporal material, but cannot again be resolved 



• Medicines arc ihtrcFort: chfwcti which are free from cuaguUntiaiii such ai alunu Id wlucb hiimittily iititl co;i,guUUun 
MiiiulUfieoiiaty cxi»t. irilieic Imo be !>«piUtLted one from another, the quality wiihdraw^ into one ptacu, and the elemcjiU 
in like manner, into another. Now, the element of alum \% mosit akin to ibc clement of water For the element of water 
ntivo cunsihta in lU Hylc^ ;i^ alum after \\% cxcoction., and when it Has been vrporatcd from its coagulates, it [>a!»cs into 
its purt .-itul proper elenicnt, de>ipoiIcdt however, of iu medicinal arcana. But alum does not ftuflfer this privation. For 
water alrme prevail against the microcoMOtc fire. Whence the matter standi thus, tlial the aquobity rauit be jtcparatcd 
from the alum, and must l>c reciilied therein till it 1% almost like <iugar. The dose is one :«^ruple. If the «ymptom& of 
liie elcmtntary' disease again prc^nt themselves, they mui»t be again exlingui.shed as before* There arc many such 
arcana, which I leave to the experience of the school of Vulcatt, as it \s trnpcwihle to emunerale them iti this place. -/V 
Mitr^ii MttiMilkU^ Lib. II.. Tract IV., c 6- 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 155 

into water. And as you have heard concerning Coagulation, so know also 
concerning Solution, namely, that no corporeal matter can be resolved into 
water unless it originally xvas water, and such is the case with all mineral 
substances.* 

Tincture is the seventh and last step, which concludes the work of our 
mystery, with reference to transmutation, makes all imperfect things perfect, 
transmutes them into their noblest essence and highest state of health, and 
changes them to another colour. TtncfufCs thervjore^ is the noblest matter with 
which bodies^ metallic and hutnan^ are tinged^ translated into a better and far 
more noble essence, and info their supreme health and purity. For a Tincture 
colours all things according to its own nature and its own colour. But there 
are many and various Tinctures, and not only lor metallic and human bodies, 
since everything which penetrates another matter, or tinges it with another 
colour or essence, so that it is no longer like what it was before, may be called 
a Tincture, So then there are manifold tinctures, that is to say, of metals, 
minerals, human bodies, waters, liquids, oils, salts, all fat substances— in a 
word, of all things which, with or without fire, can be brought or reduced to 
a state of fluxion. For if the tincture is to tinge, it is necessary that the body 
or material which is to be tinged should be open, and in a state of flux ; for 
unless this were so, the tincture could not operate. For it w^ould be just as 
though one were to cast saffron, or some other colour, into coagulated water 
or ice ; it would not tint the ice so quick ly with its colour as if one were to put 
it into other water. And, although it might tinge the ice, it would at the 
same time reduce it into water. Wherefore, metals also, which we wish to 
tinge, must he liquefied by fire, utid freed from their coagulation. And here 
it should be known that the more hotly they are liquefied the more rapidly 
the tincture runs through them, just as fermentation penetrates the whole 
mass and imparls acidity to it, and the better it is covered up, and the warmer 
the mass is kept, the more perfectly it ferments, and the better bread it gives; 
for fermentation is a Tincture of the farinaceous mass and of the bread. t 



• All created tlii[i£» proceed from a coagulate, and aTierward^ iMs cooguhite must pa»s Into a Tuiuld, From a liquid, 
thcDi all procreated thing^^ proceed, irvhcther these be li<iiiid» ur wtid^^ po^^^cs^ing a defined «1l){Lp«!:. Further, the 
solid can never be «) perfcctJy liquefied a* ttal lo strive to return lo it** -Kjlidity. Yk^x example : salt* inrhen it bdi««clvcd 
in water, seeks to revert into its oriKtnj^l iiate. It Is the sasxm. w kh idl olbcr *.uJ<stancev Moreover, no wilid Is *o corn* 
pletety (fisaolved but that it will actuatty return into it* original *hape, by mean?; of the nature it retains. Understand 
that any *olid proceed* from one of the three principle*' sulphur* mercury, and salt whichsoever it may Ue. Sulphur 
u never liquerted ao completely as not to leave some Mj'tidity adhering to it, Thi^ is also the C2ue with salt aiul 
iticfcui^'. Great attention must be paid to tbi* *olidific*iti<*ti and dts-solution, ll^e one freciucnily prevails over the 
other. . . . Understand. tlicreforCt of things in general, that they proceed from three priiiciplcji ; but that fraiti* 
which tt«y proceed is a solid, ivv for examplet seed, earth, all fruits, and all growing things. Nothing exiaLs which 
is not a ^olid. Hut thi« U not the solidification of which mention i?i made here, but is above it aud was before it« 
For fruits were produced from that liquids and were again solidified. The result i» that here n certain Liiid of generation 
lakeii pbu.e, aj>d if it be not followed again by a Mfconti digeiitioti, ^is in tht: digestion wliich endued after the first 
dtvsoUuiou into fmtts that which finally remaios becoinci die principle of tartiir,— W//»i/ Ffiagmen^nn* tic Tnrtafv, 

t The brutes tbems>elvi^ have an intuite knowledge, good and liad. No>ne the les<i has mnn, aLv>, hxtk tinctured 
knowlcdgCf which ia bad *ind good^ being tinctured from the »tar?i ais rcgartis his earthy nature and condition. In con- 
»ei}iicncc t>f tViLs nature a most supreme ami exhaustive iniestjgaiion «"f ptiilnwpby i.s pemusstili^le. The right and |iroper 
itndcri>randing of tht uniinal condition of bumiin nature is contiiincti iti an tmder^tanding of the tincture of the 
Animal man, Man ha* two liuctures^ one* ai» regard*. bt> jnfrri,>r l« log, fntni ibe ».t.ir». ,tral the *>lher, supematurab 
from God,— Z>r t'tuUitutt, Tract I. 



156 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

It is also to be remarked that some dregs are of a more fixed substance 
than their liquid, of a sharper aJso and more penetrating' nature, as you see 
in the case of vinum ardens, which is made from the dregs of wine, and in 
the case oi cercvisia ardens, which is distilled from the dregs of cerevtsia; and 
just as vinttm ardens burns, and as sulphur is kindled, so, if from the dregs of 
iiceium another aceiam should be distilled, as vinum ardins is commonly dis- 
tilled, there will be produced thence an acetum of so fiery and acrid a nature, 
that it would consume al! metals, stones, and other substances, like aquafortis. 

Moreover, tincture must be of a fixed nature, fluxible, and incombustible, 
so that if a little of it be thrown on an ignited plate of metal it will presently 
float like wax, and that without any smoke, and will penetrate the metal as 
oil penetrates paper, or water a sponge, and tinge all metals to white and red, 
that is, in the case of Luna and Sol * These are now the Tinctures of the 
metals^ which must first of all be turned to alcohol by the step of Calcina- 
tion, Afterwards, by the second step of Sublimation, their own easy and 
gentle flux must be produced \ lastly, by the step of Putrefaction and Dis- 
tillation the Tincture is evoh'ed, fixed, incombustible, and of changeless 
colour* 

But the Tinctures of human bodies^whereby those bodies may be tinged 
into their supreme state of health, and all diseases may be expelled, that their 
lost powers and colours may he restored, and they themselves invigorated and 
renewed — are these : Gold, pearls, antimony, sulphur, vitriol, and the like, 
the preparations whereof w^e give in many other books, so it does not seem 
necessary for us to repeat them here. 

But concerning Tinctures nothing more need be written, seeing that every 
extracted colour may be called a Tincture, w^hich, indeed » tinges with a per- 
manent colour things which do not enter the fire, or keep their colours fixed 
in the fire, Alt these things are in the hand and power of the dyer or the 
painter, who prepares them according to his own pleasure*! 

It is especially necessary, too, in this book to know the degrees of fire, 
which can be graduated and intensified in many ways, and each degree has its 
own peculiar operation, while no one gives the same result as another, as 
every skilful alchemist finds from his daily experience and the practice of his 
art. One is the live flaming fire w^hich reverberates and calcines all bodies. 



• t call the tbcture of gold the colour of the body itself, ^vhich, ifseparaicd from the body, so that a while body 
reinaliiSi will l>e a perfect wofk. For colour and body a« two different ibings. and for thw reason admit of separation, 
that is to sjiy, the pure (tbc colour) i* &cparated front the impiarc (ihe body). Unit-??.* Ihi* be done, all the latxitir will 
mm out useless. When, accordingly, this separation is accompUiihed, wc niuM immediately Uastcn to the clarification 
of the colour, and to the highest grade of cxaltatian. But the grade to wblcli the tincture can be exalted U f)vc time-^ 
double, that Is, fi\'< time* into five times twenty-four, for it cannot become more sublimated. —C4/r«r»3f/rt Aft^iin, 
Part IJ-, Tract II L,c.». 

t TinctuTM operate approximately oi follows ; Ju»t as you *ee fire complelely coiisutne firewood and similar |jodie», 
which, as gold, etc., have no figure of man, so wc must believe that tlnciures operate. Thuft, ju Mittmony purges away 
iitt the drosA of gold, perfects it, and rallies it dj the bighesi grade by cementation, in like manner it become* manifest 
thai tfic tincture:! thert»<«lveii have obtained a nature similar to cement, inasmuch as they perform operations com- 
plelcly similar to thoste of the latter tuvd of fire* The ancient arti»t.'« manrelinu->kly wearied theDiselvcs at conjoining 
lincturca mitb fire, for the^' anticipated a medicine in their idm^t sacred conjanctiont but all in rain. — /^/V.^ c, 8. 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



15; 



Another is the fire of the candle and lamp, which fixes all volatile bodies. 
Another is the coal fire, which cements, colours, and purges metals from their 
scoriae, graduates more highly Sol and Lunai takes the whiteness from Venus, 
and, in a word, renovates all the metals. Another is the fire of an ignited 
iron plate, on %vhich the tinctures of metals are probed, which also is useful 
for other purposes. In another way, scobs (i>., alkali) of iron produces heat, 
in another way» sand ; in another, ashes ; in another, the balneum maris, by 
which many distillations, sublimations, and coagulations are produced. In 
yet another way operates the balneum ron's^ in which take place many solu- 
tions of corporeal things. Otherwise, again, z.cts thQ itenfer cquinNS, In which 
the principal putrefactions and digestions take place, and in another way 
operates the invisible fire, by which we understand the rays of the sun, which 
also is shewn by a mirror, or steel plate, or crystal^ and displays its operation 
and effect, concerning which fire the ancients wTote scarcely anything. By 
this fire, indeed, the three principles in any corporeal substance can be separated 
on a table. Of so wonderful a virtue is this fire» that by means of it metals 
are liquefied, and all fat and fluxible things — all combustible things, indeed — 
can be reduced to carbon and ashes on a table, and without fire. 

Since, then, I have placed before yoo and disclosed the steps of Alchemical 
Art, and the degrees of alchemical fire, I will, moreover, point out to you, and 
describe generically* the various transmutations of natural objects. Before all, 
one should speak of the metals ; secondly, of stones ; thirdly, of various 
objects after their kind. The transmutation of metals, then, is the great 
secret in Nature, and can only be produced with difficulty, on account of the many 
hindrances and difficulties. Yet it is not-n^t- contrary to Nature or the will of 
God, as many falsely say. But in order to transmute the five lower and baser 
metals, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury, into the two perfect 
metals, Sol and Luna, you must have the Philosophers* Stone. But since we 
have already, in the seven steps, sufficiently unveiled and described the secrets 
of the Tinctures, it is not necessary to labour further about this, but rather 
rest satisfied with what we have written in other books on the Transmutations 
of Metals. 

But there are further transmutations of imperfect and impure metals, as, 
for instance, of Mars into Venus. This may be effected in diflferent ways : 
Firstly* if iron filings are heated in water of vitriol ; or, secondly, if iron plates 
are cemented with calcined vitriol ; thirdly, if glowing iron plates are ex* 
tinguished with oil of vitriol In these three ways iron is transmuted into the 
best, natural, and heavy copper, which, indeed, flows V'ery well, and has its 
own weight as well as any native copper. Iron filing can also be reduced and 
transmuted as if into lead, so that it becomes entirely soft, like native lead, 
but it does not flow easily. Therefore proceed thus : Take some iron filing, 
and the same quantity of the best liquefying powder. Mix them ; place them 
on a tigiilum in a blast furnace, make a strong fire, not so much as to melt the 
iron, but let it stand as if in a cement a whole hour. .Afterwards increase the 



1 58 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writivgs of Paracelsus. 

fire vigorously, so that the iron may glow and melt. Lastly, let the tigillum 
cool of itself, and you will find a regulus of lead on the tigillum, as soft and 
ductile as native lead can be. 

But in order to transmute Venus into Saturn proceed thus : First of all, 
sublimate copper, and reduce it by fixed arsenic to a white substance, as white 
as Luna. Then granulate. Of this, and of good reduced powder, take the 
same quantity ; first cement, and, lastly pour into the regulus, when you will 
have the true leaden regulus. 

On the other hand, it is very easy to turn lead into copper, nor is any great 
skill required. This is the process : Calcine plates of lead in vitriol, or stratify 
with the crocus of Venus, cement, and, lastly, liquefy. Then you will see as 
much native lead as you please transmuted into good, heavy, and ductile 
copper. 

If, now, such copper, or any other copper, be made into plates and stratified 
with tutia and calamine, cemented, and if, lastly, it be cast, it is changed into 
a splendid amber or red colour, like gold. 

If you wish to change Saturn into Jupiter, take plates of Saturn, and 
stratify with sal ammoniac, cement, and, lastly, cast, as above. So all its 
blackness and darkness are taken away from the lead, and it becomes in 
whiteness like the best English tin. 

As you have now heard in brief a summary of some transmutations of 
metals, so, moreover, know concerning the transmutations of gems, which, 
indeed, are various and by no means alike. For you see how great a trans- 
mutation of gems lies hid in oil of sulphur. Any crystal can be tinged and 
transmuted in it, and in course of time graduated with distinct colours so as to 
become like a grained jacinth or ruby. 

Understand in like manner concerning the magnet. It can be transmuted 
into ten times its power and virtue in the following way : Take a magnet, and 
heat it in the coals to such a degree that it may be at a high temperature, 
but still not red hot. Extinguish this immediately in the oil of the crocus of 
Mars, which is made of the best Carinthian steel, so that it may imbibe as 
much as it can take. Thus you will make a magnet so powerful that with it 
you can pull out the nails from a wall, and do other wonderful things which a 
common magnet could never accomplish. 

Moreover, in the transmutations of gems, it must be known that the world 
is situated in the two grades of tincture and coagulation. For as the white of 
an ^^^ can be tinged with saffron, and afterwards coagulated into a beautiful 
yellow amber, with the dye of a pine into black amber, with verdigris into 
green amber, like the cyanean or Turkish stone, with green juice into the like- 
ness of an emerald, with lazuleum into a cerulean amber like sapphire, with 
Brazilian wood into a red amber like the grained jacinth or ruby, with a purple 
colour like amethyst, or with ceruse made to resemble alabaster — so all other 
liquids, and especially metals and minerals, can be tinged with fixed colours, 
afterwards coagulated, and transmuted into gems. 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



159 



Similarly pearls^ too, can be made entirely like true ones in appearance so 
that by means of their brightness and beauty they can scarcely be distinguished 
from genuine ones. Proceed thus: Purify as much as possible the white of 
eggs with a sponge. Into this put and mix some fair white talc, or pearl shell, 
or Mercury coagulated with Jupiter and reduced to alcohol. At the same time 
pound it in marble very fine^ so that it becomes a thick amalgam* which must 
be dried in the sun or behind a warm furnace until it becomes like cheese or 
hepan Lastly » from this mass make as many pearls as you wish, and fix 
them ow hog bristles. Having thus bored them, dry them as you did the 
amber, and you have prepared them. If they do not shine sufficiently anoint 
them externally with the white of an ^%^^ and again dry them. Thus they will 
become most beautiful pearls, like true ones in form though not in virtue. 

Almost in the same way corals are made by those who wish to deceive 
people as wnth the pearls just spoken of. Proceed thus : Pound cinnabar with 
white of eggs in a marble mortar for an hour. Afterwards dry it like potter's 
earth. TheQ form from thence pilules or small branches* as you will j lastly, 
dry them thoroughly, and anoint them externally, as you did the pearls, with 
white of ^^^^ Dry them again, and thus they will become like native coral in 
appearance, but not in virtue- 
It should also be known that the white of eggs by itself can"be coagulated 
into a very fine varnish, into which coagulation Luna or Sol may be put. 

There are many other and various transmutations, whereof I will tell you 
briefly, and by the way. those which I know and have experimented on. First, 
learn that any wood, if at a particular time it be put in the water of the salt of a 
gem, is converted Into stone in a manner calculated to cause wonder. So, too* 
stones are transmuted into coals by ^tnean fire, and these are called stone 
coal. 

In the same way glue is made from hides, paper from linen rag, and silk 
is produced out of linen with a very sharp lixivium made from lime and the 
ashes of woad. If the downy parts are taken from feathers and dressed with 
this lixivium, they can be spun and woven like cotton. Any oil or spermatic 
mucilage can be coagulated into varnish ; any liquid into gum. All these are 
transmutations of natural objects : whereof we have now said enough, and 
therefore write our finis. 



CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK THE EIGHTH. 

CON'CERXING THE SEPARATIONS OF NATURAL THINGS. 

IN the creation of the world, the first separation began with the four 
elements, when the first matter of the world was one chaos. From that 
chaos God built the Greater World, separated into four distinct 
elements. Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Fire was the warm part. Air only the 
cold, Water the moist, and, lastly. Earth was but the dry part of the Greater 
World. 

Now, that you may learn our method in this Eighth Book as briefly as 
possible, you must know that we do not propose to treat herein concerning 
the Separation of the Elements in all natural things, since we have fully and 
perfectly taught concerning these arcana in our Archidoxa on the Separations 
of the Elements. But here we touch only on the separation of natural 
things,* where some one thing is singly, and by itself, materially and sub- 
stantially separated and segregated, when two, three, four, or more have 
been mingled in one body, and yet only a single matter is touched and seen. 
And here it frequently happens that corporeal matter of this kind can be known 
by nobody, nor be designated by an express name, until the process of separation 
is instituted. Then sometimes from a single matter two, three, four, five, or 
more, proceed, as by daily experience in Alchemy is made evident. By way 
of example for you, there is electrum, which by itself is not a metal, but still 
conceals all the metals in one metal and body. If this, by alchemical art, be 
anatomised and separated, all the seven metals, and these pure and unmixed, 
proceed from it, namely, gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, quicksilver, etc. 

But in order to understand what separation is, you should know that it is 
nothing else but the segregation of one thing from another, whether two, 
three, four, or more have been mixed : I mean the segregation of three 
principles, as mercury, sulphur, salt, and the extraction of the pure from the 
impure, or of the pure and noble spirit and quintessence from the dense and 

* Separation is grotmded in heat, as in a faculty of digestion, whence, sometimes in one way, and sometimes in 
another, the ultimate matter b formed. —Modus Pharmacaudi, Tract III. The office of the Archeus is the sequestra- 
tion of the pure from the impure.— Dt Moritis Tartareis. c. 5. For unless there be separation in the greater world, 
there can be no metal, and unless there be separation in the smaller world, that b, in the microcosmos, which is man, 
there can be neither health nor dixeane. but an equable and perpetual disposition of all things.— CA/r»ryrtf Afagna^ 
Partlll., Lib. a. 



Concetfting the Nature of Tkifigs, 



i6i 



nental body ; and the preparation of two, three, four, or more from one : 
or the dissolution and liberation of things linked and bound together, which 
are by nature adverse, and perpetually act contrariwise one to the other* and 
gfo on doing so until they mutually destroy each other. 

There are many and various modes of separation! all of which are not 
known to us ; but those among the soluble natural elements which have been 
investigated by us shall here be set down and described according to their 
species. 

The first Separation of which we speak should begin from man, since he 
is the Microcosm* the lesser world, and for his sake the Macrocosm, the 
greater world, was founded, that he might be its Separator* But the 
separation of the Microcosm begins from death.* For in death the two bodies 
of man separate from each other, that is to say, the Celestial and the 
Terrestial, the Sacramental and the Elemental One of these soars on high, 
like an eagle ; the other sinks down to the earth, like lead^f 

The elemental body decays and is consumed. It becomes a putrid corpse, 
which, being buried in the earth, never again comes forth or appears, But 
the Sacramental body, that is, the sidereal and celestial body, does not decay, 
is not buried, occupies no place. This body appears to men, and is seen even 
after death. Hence we have spectres, visions, and supernatural apparitions. 
From these the Cabalistic Art was elaborated by the ancient Magi, which is 
treated of more at length in the books on the Cabala.J 

After this separation has been made, then, by the death of the man, the 
three substances separate one from the other, that is to say, the body, the 
soul, and the spirit, each wending its way to its own place, as to the ark from 



• There arc Iwo kinds of death -one from the YU;iiJus, and one from ihc Ens. With tliat which comH from the 
Y1U(lu& medicine may oitempi to do bftllle ; with ihai which comes from the En* it is u&ele^s to attempt to copc.—Dt 
Tarinre, comment, in Ljh. M^ 

t It \\^s, therefore, laeemcd good to me that man should hrsi of all Ife described according to hU nature and con> 
dition, so that it m^iy become more clearly ■ntcttlgible what is to Ijc sought in the mortal body, that i& to &ay, mere 
mortality, and wh*t oIao i* to l»e sought jn ihe .sidereal Ixxly, forsooth mere mortality. Afterwards wc must become 
acquainted with the squK which U by no means mortal, but {% the eiemal maiu Vou must further know thai the ^oul \% 
flesh and bloody and that it con^isLs of flesh and bloxl, but that there i:s a twofold flesh, namely ^ inurliit ;ind elernAJ* 
The mortal take* it^ c«ucnce from mortal flesh ; the eternal is perfect fleOi ;ind bhxxl unto life eternal. Therefore if 
man coniidcr*. within bini^lf who and what he i.v, and what will be his future candiiion^ he will thence readily under* 
stand that in this ^*odyt incaruatc from the Holy Spirit, he shfttl *ec God* hts Redeemer, and that whatsoever G<^ 
our Redeemer operates^, in us, He does through the man of new generation, becau^ that Is not of a mortal hut un 
eternal body. Only this body is s*curc from the devil. The second is from Adam, and i* like a seed in wnler^ Tlic 
other body is suitable for the jjcrformance of works Divine^ for a niort&l body can accomplish nothing of tho«^ thing-^ 
which are cele&ttab It care« only for things enrthly and things of the firmament, and it produce* men skilled only in 
natural light. Hence God ordains man to gain a wider experience from that which is nalitrdlly formed, to pass from 
one to the other, and to emuliate N.tture. For in a new body and a celestial philosophy is hTe eternal. Death b 
inherent in natural strength, but life, on the contrary, consists in eternal s>trength. The instruction of Nature is from 
the earth) and she kno\%'5 not God, except that she admires ihe Creator in man. Nor yet docs man recognise God 
according to Nature or in Nature. But he who i.-* bom from on high is aoiuainted wiih supernal things. Ttte first of 
the5« is Christ. All who are reborn in flesh and bloody conceived and incarnate from the Holy Ghost, do follow Hira, 
and these same have the knowledge of things above. For they arc from Him who Cometh from on high. Hence there 
are two insintctionSt one of the earth earthy, thr other from on high, which He imi^irts who ai*o is from on high, from 
whom wc derive, whose flesh and blood we are, etc» "Phihuf^km Sagaje^ Lib* 11., c a, 

« The sole work on the cabala which h^s been preser^'ed in the name of Paracelsus, b a short treatise, which forms 
a detached portion of the book entitled £?* Fettiiiitite. It is not cabalistical in the sense which properly attaches lo 
that term, nor does it exhibit any special aoi^uainiancc with that section of Jewish trMJitional literature to which it is 
referred in name. In it* general outline it srrms to Ije fairly in harmony with the great body of cabatistical cosmogony. 



1 62 The Hemutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

which it first of all came forth : the body to the earth, as the first matter of 
the elements j the soul to the first matter of the sacrameats ; and, lastly, the 
spirit to the first matter of the aerial chaos. 

What has now been said concerning the separation ot the Microcosm 
should also be understood of the g-reater world, which the mighty ocean has 
separated into three parts, so that the universal world is thus divided into 
three portions, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This separation is a sort of pre- 
figii ration of the three principles, because they, too, can be separated from 
every terrestrial and elemental thing. These principles are Mercury, Sulphur, 
and Salt. Of these three the world is built up and composed. 

From this should be known the separation of the metals from their 
mountains, that is to say, the separation of metals and minerals. By the 
separation which is instituted in these, many come forth from one matter. 
You see that from minerals come forth metal, scoriae, glass, sand, pyrites, mar- 
chasite, granite, cobalt* talc, cachimia, zinctum, bismuth, antimony, litharge, 
sulphur, vitriol, verdigris, chrj^socolla, cceruleum or lazulum, auripigment, 
arsenic, realgar, cinnabar, fireclay, spathus, g)'phus, tripolis, red earth, and 
other like things ; and then of each one of these the water, the oils, the 
resins, the calx or ash, the Mercur>% Sulphur, Salt, etc. 

Vegetables in their separation give waters, oils, juices, resins, gums, 
electuaries, powders, ashes, Mercur}% Sulphur, Salt, etc. 

Animals in their separation give water, blood, flesh, fat, bones, skin, 
body, hair, Mercun»', Sulphur, Salt, etc. 

Whoever, therefore, boasts to be a separator of such natural things, needs 
long experience, and perfect knowledge of all natural objects. Besides this, 
he must be a skilled and practised alchemist, to know what is or is not 



and It U bneAy as followv Earth, water, air^ and iu« have their origio Grtan three lhkig>» which, howevcrt are not to 
be regarded as of prior creatioo« for they xr^ and have b«eo fire, air, wmteTt earth. Tlie three hav« all proceeded from 
one mother. This mother was water. When ihe whol« world was tbnaed the Spirit of God was borne over the waters, 
for by the word fittl water was fir»t created, and thence all other creatures, antnwleand inan lin ate, Thei« three are called, 
truly, »utphur. mercury, ialu The*e, therefore, axe the true principle, these the true matter, out of which all animals and 
man himself are formed. Thus for perfect generation in all things there are three things required — spring, sutIltner^ and 
autumn. This is especially the csu^ in man bimseir Now, sulphur, mcrctiry, and salt recognire two rulers. Salt ha» 
the Moon, :ind is thereby governed. It i« aXv> a subject of water. In which it \a dissolved and liquefied. It is of aatuntn 
and wtater. But the Sun is king and lord of sulphur, which is fervid, igneous, and dUsolved in dre. Now, the Sun U 
ibe ruler of spiii^ and autumn. But all things are nothing else save sulphur, mercury, and salt, which, further, are the 
most certain mark of every true phy)dciafl« Salt is the body of autumn and winter, and sulphur of spring and summer. 
Salt give« form and colour to all creatures ; sulphur gives body, increase, and digestion. These two are fiuher and 
mother, from which mediating stai% all crealtues are produced. But mercury needs daily nourtshmetit^ and also continual 
augmentation from sulphur and salt. Know also that God has put much sulphur and salt into earth and water, and every 
oeature, animate ojkI inanimate, in water and earth, have their proper sulphur and salt, whence they receive nourishment 
jutd savour. Salt gives savour and form, sulphur odour and the power of putrefaction. The Sun and Moon a^isiduotisly 
labour to generate these three things copiously, and also to mature the same^ The Sun and Moon are the poreitts of alt 
creatures, while sulphur and salt are the seed. The seed is brought by the porenu. and the fceius, which is mercury, 
fcs born. The manner of the nativity of everything has its aimlogies in the great world. When the death of winter has 
paiaedt »11 things that are capable of receiving life are set in motion by the amenity of May, and all creatures are trans* 
ported with siagular delight, even as a pregnant woman who desires to bnng forth. Now, every individual being has 
Assigned lo it its own May for its conception and birth, its respective autumn, and its peculiar har>esi> So are there 
various springs, summers, and autumns, according to the tnllnile varieties of creatures. The doctrine of the three prime 
principles recurs conrinually in the writings of Paracelsus, and ts elsewhere treated at considerable length in the text of 
this translation. At the same lime, the obscurity which involves the subject seems to warrant the citation of passages 
such as the above, not ejtactly to cast light upon the question, but to exhibit the prime^-al my^ter>' of Raracelsican 
philosophy with all its available variations. 



Concerning (he Nature of Things. 163 

combustihie, what is fixed and what volatile^ what does or docs not pass into 
flux, and what thing" is hea\^ier than another. He must also have investigated 
in every object its natural colour^ odour, acidit\% austerity, acridity » bitter- 
ness, sweet nesSi Its grade, complexion^ and quality* 

Moreover, it is necessary to know the grades of separation, that they 
consist of distillation, resolutioni putrefaction, extraction, calcination, rever- 
beration, sublimation, reduction, coagulationi pulverisation, lavation. By 
distillation, water and oil are separated from all corporeal substances. By 
resolution, metals are separated from minerals, and one metal from another, 
salt and fatness from others, and the light is separated from the heavier. By 
putrefaction, the fat is separated from the lean, the pure from the impure, the 
decayed from the undecayed. By extraction, the pure is separated from the 
impure, the spirit and the quintessence from their body, and the pearl from its 
dense body. By calcination are separated water)' moisture, fatness, natural 
colour, odour, and whatever is otherwise combustible. By reverberation are 
separated colour, odour, inflammability, all moisture and wateriness, fat, 
whatever, in a word, there is in the substance w^hich is fluxible or inconstant, 
and so on* By sublimation are separated from each other the fixed and the 
volatile, the spiritual and the corporeal, the pure from the impure, the Sulphur 
from the Salt, the Mercury from the Salt ; and the rest. By reduction, the 
fluxible is separated from the solid, the metal from its mineral ore, one metal 
from another, metal from ash, the fat from that which is not fat. By coagulation 
is separated moisture from mere humidity, water from earth. By pulverisa- 
tion are separated one from the other dust and sand^ ashes and Hme, the 
mineral from the animal and vegetable substance. All powders which are of 
unequal w^eight are separated by the process of jaculation. just as the chaff 
from the corn. By washing or ablution, ashes and sand are separated, the 
mineral from its metal, the heavy from the lighter substance, the vegetable 
and animal portion from the mineral. Sulphur from Mercury and Salt, Salt from 
Mercury. 

But now, discarding mere theor)*, let us approach the practical work of 
separation, and come down to special details. It must be remarked that the 
separation of metals is rightly the first of all. For this reason, therefore, we 
will treat of that first. 



Concerning the Separation of Metals from their Minerals. 

The separation of metals from their mineral ores can be effected in many 

ways, for instance, by ebullition or excoction, or by liquefaction with certain 

liquefying powders, as salt oi alkali, litharge, sa! Jlttxum^ fei vitn\ ash, sal 

gemmae, saltpetre, etc. Put them into a vessel or dish, and let them liquefy in 

a furnace. Then the metal as a regulus will subside to the bottom of the 

vessel, but the matter of the mineral will float on the surface and will become 

ash. You must then work this metallic regulus in a furnace by means of a 

reverberatory, until all the pure metal is liberated without any dirt or ash. In 

M2 



MW4 27/tf Hernutic and Alchemical IVritings of Paracelsus. 

this way, the metal is thoroug^hly digested and (so to say) refined or purged 
from all its dirt and scoria. Mineral ores of this kind will sometimes 
contain more than one metal, as is very often the case : for example, 
copper and silver, copper and gold, lead and silver, tin and silver, etc, may 
be found in one mineral ore ; and the sign of this circumstance will be 
apparent if the metallic regtilus, after being dealt with in the reverberatory, be 
resolved in a small vat after the proper fashion and mode. All the imperfect 
metals in it are separated, such as copper, iron, tin» lead, and so they pass away 
in smoke together with the lead (of which there should be added twice as much 
as of the regulus), and then only fine silver and gold remain in the vat. A 
similar result Is attained, too, if the metallic rex is liquefied and poured upon 
the lumps. By that method of fusion the intermixed metals are separated. 
That which is best and weightiest alw^ays sinks to the bottom, while the 
lighter mounts above. 

Two or three metals in admixture can also be separated in acrid and strong 
water, and one can be extracted from the other, and extended and resolved. 
But if both metals are resolved together^ one of them in that resolution, as 
sand or calx, can be diverberated and depressed with salt according to the 
usual method, and so separated. 

Besides this, metals can also be separated by fluxion according to the 
following process. Reduce the metals to a state of flux. When this has been 
done» throw in for every pound of the metal one ounce of the most perfectly 
sublimated and refined sulphur. It will there be burnt, and in the course of that 
operation it will attract to itself, on the surface, one metal j the lightest, whilst 
it will leave the heavier at the bottom. Let them stand in this way until cool. 
So in the one regulus two metals will be found, not, as before, mixed together, 
but opposed to each other, and separated by the sulphur as if by a wall, even 
as oil cuts off two bodies oi water, so that that they cannot join and be com- 
mingled. In the same way sulphur acts w'lth these metals. Sulphur, there- 
fore, is an arcanum, worthy of the highest esteem. 

Volatile and fugitive metals^ such as gold and silver, if they are to be 
separated from their minerals, since they can neither be treated in the fire nor 
with strong waters, should be amalgamated, separated, and extracted by means 
of Mercurius vhms, .'Xfterwards the Afcrctirtiis virus must be abstracted and 
separated from the calx of the gold or silver by the grade of distillation. 

In this way, other metals, too, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and 
substances prepared from these, as red electrum, white magnesia, aurichalcum, 
lead ashes, laton, casting brass, part with part, etc., and whatever trans- 
muted metals of this kind there are, must be abstracted and separated from 
their extraneous substances by means of AfercHrius rivus. For this is the 
nature and quality of Merctmus vivus^ that it is amalgamated with metals and 
wholly united with them, but more quickly or more slowly with one than with 
another, according as the metal is more or less akin to its nature. 

In this scale the principal is fine gold, then fine silver, the third lead, the 




Concerfiing the Nature of Things. 165 

fourth tin, the fifth copper, and the last iron. So amongf transmuted metals 
the first is part with part, then lead ashes, next latoii, afterwards casting brass, 
then red metal, and lastly white. Mercury^ for its part, does not take more than 
one metal with which it is amalg"amated. Afterwards, that amalgam must always 
be vigorously pressed out by means of goat *s skin or a cotton rag, of which a 
strip is to be inserted, by which means nothing but Mercurius vivus alone will 
pass over. The metal which was attracted will remain on the skin or the rag 
like lime, and you can afterwards reduce it to a metallic body, by liquefying it 
with salt of alkali, or some other substance. By this device Mvrcun'us vhms 
is separated from all the metals more quickly and conveniently than by the 
method of distillation. By this process w*ith Ale re urius vivus, m the hands of 
a skilled and active alchemist, all metals can be extracted and separated on^ 
from another in turn, after their calcination and pulverisation* In the same 
manner, with very small outlay of labour, tin^ too, and lead can be separated 
from copper, or from copper vessels, from iron and steel covered with tin, and 
this without any fire or water, solely by the amalgam of Mercurius vivus^ as 
we have said. Again, gold and silver leaf, as also every metal after being 
ground or pounded, and written with pen or pencil on cloth, parchment, 
paper, leather, wood, stone, or other material, can be resolved with Mercurius 
vivHs^ but so that afterwards the Mercttritts vivus can again be separated ;ind 
segregated from these metals. 

The separation of metals in aqua fort is, aqua regis, and similar strong 
corrosives, is effected in the following manner : Let the metal which is mixed 
and joined to another be taken and reduced into very thin plates, or most 
mmute portions. Let it be put into a separating vessel, and a sufficient 
quantity of common aquafortis be poured upon it. Let these stand, and both 
be macerated until all the metal is resolved into a transparent water. If it be 
silver, and contains gold in it, all the silver will be resolved Into water, while 
the gold will be calcined and sink down to the bottom In the form of black 
sand. By this method the two metals, gold and silver, will be separated. 
But if you wish to separate the silver alone without distillation, and to drive 
that to the bottom like black sand, and to bring it back to calcination from its 
state of resolution, then put into that resolution a small copper plate, and 
thereupon the silver will sink in the water, and occupy the bottom of the glass 
vessel like snow, while it will begin gradually to consume the copper plate* 

The separation of silver and copper by means of common aquafortis is 
accomplished in the following way : Reduce the copper which contains silver, 
or the silver which contains copper within itself. Into very thin plates, or into 
grains ; put it into a glass vessel, and add as much common aquafortis as 
necessary. In this way the silver will be calcined, and will go to the bottom 
in the form of white VrniQ, while the copper will be resolved and converted 
into transparent water. If this water, together with the resolved copper, be 
abstracted through a glass funnel from the silver calx into a separate glass 
vessel, then the resolved copper can be reverberated with common rain or 



1 66 The Hermetic and AUhemical Wriiings of ParauJsus. 

nver water, or with hot salt water, so that it will occopr the bo tt om of the 
glass vessel like sand. 

The separation of hidden gold from any metal is effected by the degree 
o( extraction through aqua regis ; for this water does not approach for the 
purpose of resoUing any metal but fine gold alone. 

This same aqua regis also separates fine gold from gilded denodia. If it 
be smeared over these, it wipes away and sunders the gold. 

Moreo%'er, also, two metals mixed tc^ether can be separated one from the 
other with a cement b}- the degree of reverberation, especially if they are not 
in a similar d^^ee of fixation, as iron and copper, h metal which has very 
little fixation, such as tin and lead, is altogether consumed in the cement by 
the degree oi reverberation. The more fixed any metal is the less is it 
affected or consumed by the cement.* 

It should be known, too, that fine gold is the most fixed and perfect of 
all metals, and can be consumed \yy no cement. Next to this is fine silver. 
But if gold and silver be mixed together in one body, which is generally 
called ** part with part," or if silver contains gold, or gold silver, in itself — if 
these mixtures, I say, be cemented and reverberated together, then the gold 
always remains entire and inviolate, while the silver is consumed by the 
cement, and is extracted from the fine gold ; and so is copper from silver or 
iron, or tin from copper and iron, or lead from tin ; and so on in order with 
the others. 

Concerning the Separation of Minerals. 

So far we have explained the separation of metals from their earth and 
matter, and oi one metal from another ; and have shewn how it was to be 
done, using the greatest brevity consistent with accurac>', and follow^ing the 
alchemical art and practical experience. Now, next in order, it will be 
necessary also that we treat of those things out of which metals grow and 
are generated, such as are the three principles. Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, 
and other minerals, among which is found the first essence of metals, that is, 
the spirit of metals, as is evident in marchasites, granites, cachimise, red talc, 
lazurium, and the like. In these the first essence of gold is found by the 
degree of sublimation. So, too, in white marcasite, white talc, auripigment, 
arsenic, litharge, etc., the first essence of silver is found. In cobalt, zinctum, 
etc., the first essence of iron. In zinctum, vitriol, atramentum, verdigris, etc., 
the first essence of copper. In zinctum, bismuth, etc., the first essence of 
tin. In antimony, minium, etc., the first essence of lead. In cinnabar is 
found the first essence of silver. 

Concerning this first essence, it should be known that it is a fugitive 
spirit, still existing in a volatile state, as a child lies hidden in the womb of 
its mother. It is sometimes assimilated to a liquid, sometimes to alcohol. 
Whoever, therefore, is anxious to have the prime essence of any body, and 
to separate it, needs great experience and knowledge of the Spagyric Art. 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



167 



If he has not diligently laboured in alchemy it will avail him nothing* 
and his labour will be in vain. How the first essence is to be separated from 
all mineral bodies has been sufficiently explained in the books of the Archi- 
doxis, and need not be repeated here. But as to the separation of minerals^ 
it should be remarked that many things of this kind are separated by means 
of sublimation J as the fixed from the non-fixed ^ spiritual and volatile bodies 
from the fixed, and so throughout all the divisions, as is detailed in the case 
of metals. With all minerals the process is one and the same, through all 
the degrees, as the Spagyric Art teaches. 

CONCERKING THE SEPARATION OF VEGETABLES. 

The separation of those things which grow out of the earth and are 
combustible, such as fruits, herbs, flowers, leaves, grasses^ roots, woods, etc*, 
is also arranged in many ways. By distillation is separated from them first 
the phlegma, afterwards the Mercury, after this the oil, fourthly their sulphur, 
lastly their salt. When all thes^ separations are made according to Spagyric 
Art, remarkable and excellent medicaments are the result » both for internal 
and external use. 

But when laziness has grown to such an extent among physicians » and 
all work and every pursuit are turned only to insolence, 1 do not wonder, 
intleed, that preparations of this kind are everywhere neglected, and that 
coals stand at so low a price. If smiths could do without coals for forging 
and fashioning metals as easily as these physicians do without them in pre- 
paring their medicines, there is no doubt that all the coal merchants would 
have been before now reduced to extreme beggary. In the meantime, I extol 
and adorn, with the eulogium rightly due to them, the Spagjric physicians. 
These do not give themselves up to ease and idleness, strutting about with a 
haughty gait, dressed in silk, with rings ostentatiously displayed on their 
fingers, or silvered poignards fixed on their loins, and sleek gloves on their 
hands. But they devote themselves diligently to their labours, sweating 
whole nights and days over fiery furnaces. These do not kill the time with 
empty talk, but find their delight in their laboratory. They are clad in 
leathern garments, and wear a girdle to wipe their hands upon. They put 
their fingers among the coals, the lute, and the dung, not into gold rings. 
Like blacksmiths and coal merchants, they are sooty and dirty, and do not 
look proudly with sleek countenance. In presence of the sick they do not 
chatter and vaunt their own medicines. They perceive that the work should 
glorify the workman, not the workman the work, and that fine words ^o a 
very^ little way towards curing sick folks. Passing by all these vanities, 
therefore, they rejoice to be occupied at the fire and to learn the steps of 
alchemical knowledge. Of this class are : Distillation, Resolution, Putrefac- 
tion, Extraction, Calcination, Reverberation, Sublimation, Fixation, Separa- 
tion, Reduction, Coagulation, Tincture, and the like. 

But how all these separations are made according to Spagyric and 



1 68 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

Alchemical Art by the help of distinct degrees has before been said generally, 
and to repeat the same thing here anew is vain. To go on to specialities 
and briefly explain the practical method, let it be known that all cannot be 
separated by one and the same process ; that is to say, the water, spirit, 
liquid, oil, etc., from herbs, flowers, seeds, leaves, roots, trees, fruits, woods, 
according to the grade of distillation. 

Herbs require one process, flowers another, seeds another, leaves 
another, roots another, trees, stalks, and stems another, fruits another, 
woods another, etc. And in this grade of distillation the four degrees of 
fire have to be considered. The first degree of fire is the Balneum Marice. 
This is the distillation made in water. The second degree of fire is distillation 
made in ashes. The third is in sand, the fourth in free fire, as also distillation 
is generally made by aqua fortis and other violent waters. Herbs, flowers, 
seeds, and the like, require the first degree of fire. Leaves, fruits, etc., need 
the second. Roots, branches, and trunks of trees, etc., require the third. 
Timber and the like require the fourth. Ebch of these substances must be 
minutely cut up or pounded before being brought into the still. So much has 
been said as to the distillation of waters and vegetable substances. As regards 
the separation and distillation of oils the same process must be followed as we 
have spoken of in the separation of waters, except that, for the most part, 
they have to be distilled by descent. They cannot, like waters, ascend in 
the still ; therefore, in this case the process has to be changed. Liquids, 
however, are not separated like waters and oils, by distillation, but are 
squeezed out from their corporeal substances under a press. And here it 
should be known that some oils, in like manner, just as liquids, are squeezed 
out from their corporeal substances and separated by means of the press for 
this reason, that they can bear scarcely any combustion or heat of the fire, 
but acquire therefrom an unpleasant odour. Of this kind are the oils of 
almonds, nuts, hard eggs, and the like. This also is to be noted, that all 
oils, if they are prepared or coagulated according to Spagyric and Alchemical 
Art, pour forth varnish, electuary, gum, or a kind of resin, which might also 
be called a sulphur ; and if the species left in the still were calcined and 
reduced to ashes, alkali could be extracted and separated from them with 
simple warm water alone. The ash which is left is called dead earth, nor can 
anything more be produced or separated from it. 

CONXERNING THE SEPARATION OF AnIMALS. 

It is necessary to preface the separation or anatomy of animals by 
shewing how the blood, flesh, bones, skin, intestines, etc., stand each by itself, 
and then how each is separated by Spag}'ric Art. In this part the separations 
are principally four. The first draws forth from the blood a watery and 
phlegmatic moisture. For when the blood has been separated in this manner, 
according to the process handed down in the book on Conservations,* an 



That U, ihe FrfsertmtionsoJ jSatnml 1 hingi. — Dt Saturn Kerum^ Hook III. 



Concerning the Nature of Things, 



169 



excellent Mumia* comes forth, and a specific so potent that any fresh wound 
can be healed and consolidated in twenty-four hours by a sing^le lig^ature* 

The second separation is that of fat from flesh. This fatness being 
separated from human fleshy a most excellent biilsam is produced, allaying 
the pains *i^{ gout, of contraction, and others of a like nature, if the members 
affected be anointed with it w^hile warm. It is also useful for convulsed 
tendons of the hands or feet, if they are daily anointed with it. It forlher 
cures the itch, and all kinds of leprosy. This, therefore, is the chief surgical 
specific, and of the very first efficacy in all accidents and wounds. 

The third separation is that of the watery and phlegmatic moisture with 
fatness extracted from the bones* For if these two are separated from human 
bones by Spagyric Art, and according to the degree of distillation, and if, 
moreover, by the method of calcination they are reduced or burnt to a white 
ash, and if, lastly, these three be again united in the proper way, so that they 
are like to butyrus, there will be formed a wonderful arcanum and specific, with 
which you will be able, without pain, to entirely cure any fracture of the bones 
after binding them up only thrice, provided only that you treat the fracture by 
setting it according to the rules of surgical science, and then put on the 
specific in the form of a plaster. The same also thoroughly cures wounds oi 
the skull, ox any contusion of the bones, in the shortest possible time. 

The fourth and I<ist separation is that of resins and gums from the skin, 
intestines, and tendons. For the resin is extracted and separated from these 
by the degree of extraction according to Spagyric Art, and when coagulated 
in the rays of the sun it comes out as a clear and transparent paste. When 
this paste has been prepared, extracted, and separated from the human body 
according to the prescribed method, a most excellent styptic arcanum and 
specific issues forth, with which a wound or ulcer can be quickly healed and 
the lips brought together, just as two sheets of paper are stuck together with 
paste, if only you apply to the wound two or three drops o{ that resolved 
substance. This arcanum, too, is of singular efficacy for burns, and falling 
off or roughness of the nails, if it be spread over them with a feather. In 
this way the bare flesh will be covered over with a cuticle. 

Many other separations also of one thing or another might be recounted 
here j but since we have made mention o{ them in other places, it would be in 
vain idly to repeat them now. 



• Mttmia la that which cures all bounds, that w. swecl mctcury. For mercury i« extracted both in a sweet and 
faicicr fotm- Tlie forrntr Is ad.i|)lcd to wounds and ihc biter to ukcr*. Mumia w ihc h"quor difFuscd through the whole 
bodyt the limbs, etc., with the ^treJ^gth thai U rei|Utred, It l» divided a* fDlb^'^ : in flesh, dccording to the nature of 
the flesh ; in bcme, nccording to the nature of the bone ; in the arteries and ligaments, according to their tiaturc ; and 
^o nJio in the marrow, the v-einis, and the skin. Hence it follows thai the mumta of the flcs^h curc» wgund$ of the fle»h, 
ihc mumia uf ihe ligaments cures wound'^ uf the ligaments, etc 1 hw^ the body which has sustained an injury carries^ 
ttii own cure with it ; the mumiA of ihe »ged, however, i& delVctcnt in virtue and strength. The corruption of the 
munvia, which i.> often occ«L«ioned; b)' the mLttakeii. uf i^^norani ph^siciaiu, impcdeiii the cure of wounds. . . . The 
noUcr the animal organism i^^ by !»o much is the muinia of the organism enhanced in power and eflkacy* The mcdi* 
cament» which Ijcticl^t wcHind* perform ibis op<r;iiion l*>'aiirnctinK the munni.i to iSe pUce where it?; niffif^ is required, — 
Chirnrgia ANuor^ Lib, L, c 1. 




( 



1 70 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 



I Here it is only necessary to write down that which we have not mentioned 

elsewhere. 
\ But at last, at the end of all earthly things, will be brought about the 

; final separation, in the third generation, on that great day whereon the Son 

; of God shall come in His majesty and glory, and before Him shall be 

,' borne, not swords, chains, diadems, sceptres, and treasures, or other royal 

jewels, with which princes, kings, and Caesars bear themselves pompously, 
\ but His Cross, and crown of thorns, and nails piercing His hands and 

J feet, and the spear with which His side was wounded, and the reed and 

\ sponge on which they stretched out that which they gave Him to drink, and 

1 the rods with which He was scourged and beaten. No crowd of horsemen 

• with far sounding drums shall accompany Him ; but the four trumpets shall 

I be blown by the angels towards the four parts of the earth, and at their 

tremendous sound all who are among the living shall be slain, and these 
together with the buried dead shall immediately rise again. 
/ For a voice shall be heard, **Rise, ye dead, and come to judgment!'' 

\ Hereupon the Twelve Apostles shall sit down on thrones prepared from the 

clouds, and shall judge the twelve families of Israel. In that place the Holy 
Angels shall separate the bad from the good, the cursed from the blessed, the 
goats from the sheep. Then the cursed shall be thrown down like stones and 
like lead ; but the blessed shall fly like eagles. Then from the tribunal of 
God shall issue forth a voice to those standing on the left hand, * ^ Go away, 
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared from eternity for Satan and the 
devils. For I was hungry and you did not feed Me ; I was thirsty and you 
gave Me no drink ; I was sick, and a prisoner, and naked, but you did not 
visit Me, did not set Me free, did not clothe Me. In a word, you were not 
touched with pity for Me. Therefore, here you shall meet with no pity ! *' 
Contrariwise to those standing on the right side it shall say thus : ** Come, ye 
blessed and elect, into the Kingdom of My Father, which has from the 
beginning been prepared for you and for all the angels. For I was hungry 
and you gave Me food ; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink ; I was a 
stranger and you received Me ; I was naked and you clothed Me ; I was sick 
and you visited Me ; I was in prison and you came to Me. So will I receive 
you also into My Father's house, in which are the many mansions of the 
saints. You pitied Me ; and so I will pity you ! " 

When all these things are finished and done, all the elementary subjects 
, shall return to the first matter of the elements, and shall be turned about for 

eternity, yet never consumed. On the contrary, all sacramental creatures 
shall return to the primal matter of the sacraments, that is, they shall be 
glorified, and in eternal joy they shall worship God their Creator, from 
universe to universe, from eternity to eternity. Amen. 



COxNCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS. 



BOOK THE NINTH.* 

CON'CERNING THE SIGNATURE OF NATURAL THINGS. 

IN this book, our first business, as being about to philosophise, is with the 
signature of things, as, for instance, to set forth how they are signed, 
what signator exists, and how many signs are reckoned. Be it known, 
first of all, then, that signs are threefold. The first things signed man signs ; 
the second Archeus signs ; the third the Stars of the Supernaturals. In this 
way, then, only three signators exist, Man, Archeus, and the Stars. Moreover, 
it should be remarked that the signs signed by man carry with them perfect 
knowledge and judgment of occult things, as well as acquaintance with their 
powers and hidden faculties. 

The signs of the stars give prophecies and presages. They point out the 
force of supernatural things, and put forth true judgments and disclosures in 
geomancy, chiromancy, hydromancy, pyromancy, necromancy, astronomy, the 
Berillistic art,t and other astral sciences. 

Now, in order that we may explain all the signs as correctly and as briefly 
as possible, it is above all else necessary that we put forward those whereof 
man is the signator. When these are understood you will more rightly attain 
to the others, whether natural or supernatural. For instance, it is known that 



• Note with reference to the books De Natura Rerum, In most editions, seven books only are included under 
this heading, but the Geneva folio, from which the translation has been made, gives nine as above. In the other cases 
the treatises on Separations and Signatures are regarded as independent works. There can be no doubt that the 
classification adopted by the Geneva folio is correct, for in method and design these treatises are integrally connected 
with the rest of the Nature oj Things. 

t Among the branches of astronomy there is one which is called Nigromancy. It has gained this name because it is ex- 
ercised by night rather than by day. This science is everj'where and by all rejected and cursed as diabolical, yet only by 
those who are ignorant of it. For this science is a natural one, bom of the stars. But above all notice the property of bery k. 
In these are beheld the past, present, and future. Let no one be surprised at this, because the constellation impresses 
the image and similitude of its influence upon the crystal in the likeness of that concerning which inquiry is made. 
This must take place by a compulsion of the constellation, as is recorded in magic. As the splendour of the sun flows in 
upon the crj'stal, so the constellation pours it from above upon the object. Moreover, all things which exist in Nature 
are known to the constellations, and when the stars are subject to man, he can bring them to such obedience that they 
favour his will. It is universally boasted concerning faith that it can accomplish many things. This is, indeed, not far 
from the truth, for Christ Himself bears wiines« H) it. And since faith is an operative principle it is evidently nothing 
else but a virtue and an eflicacy. For virtue works in a word, and words make the dead alive. In a similiar fashion, 
what else is there in the stars than that by faith in Nature they are conquered ? And as by the word of faith the 
mountain is cast into the sea, know that it is owing to natural faith that by a word the stars are brought down, so that 
they may perform their operation according to our imagination, for he is wise who rules the stars — he is wise, I say, 
who can bring their virtues under his rule, for in this maimer are constituted visions in glasses, mirrors, waters, and the 
rest, according to the quality of the power, and of the union made in conception. —yij:///V/i//<7 Totius Astronoftiitf. 



172 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Jews wear a yellow sign on their cloak or on their coat. What is this but a 
sign by which anybody who meets him may understand that he is a Jew ? So, 
too, the lictor is known by his parti-coloured tunic or armlet. So, too, every 
magistracy decks its ministers with its own proper colours and adornments. 

The mechanic marks his work with its peculiar sign, so that everyone may 
understand who has produced it. For what purpose does the courier carry 
the insignia of his master or his city on his garment, except that it may be 
clear he is a messenger, that he serves one or another, that he comes from one 
place or another, and so thus procures for himself a safe passage ? 

So, too, the soldier carries a sign or symbol, black, white, green, blue, or 
red, that he may be distinguished from the enemy. Hence it is known that 
one is on the side of Caesar, or of the kings ; that one is an Italian, another a 
Gaul, etc. These are signs which relate to rank and office ; and many more 
of them might be enumerated. But, nevertheless, since we have proposed to 
ourselves to describe other signs of natural and supernatural things, we will 
not overload our book with those signs that are foreign to our purpose. 

It is necessary more clearly to explain those signs which man affixes, and 
which lead to a knowledge, not only of rank, office, or name, but also of 
discrimination, intelligence, age, dignity, degree. Next in order, with regard 
to money, it should be remembered that every coin carries its proof and sign 
by which it may be known how much that coin is worth, to what power it 
belongs, where it circulates and is passed. Here comes in the German 
proverb : ** Nowhere is money more acceptable than where it is struck." 

The same is to be understood of the customary signs which are affixed by 
jurors and those appointed for the purpose, after due inspection has been 
previously made. An instance of this is found in the cloths marked with 
distinguishing signs by which it may be known that on examination they have 
been found good and genuine. Why is a seal appended to letters except 
that there may be a certain force which none will dare to violate ? The seal 
is the confirmation of the letter which gives it authority among men and in 
trials. A receipt without a seal is dead, useless, empty. 

In the same manner, by a few letters, names, or words, many things are 
designated, just as books which, though lettered outside with only one word, 
in that way signify their contents. 

Such, too, is the condition of the vessels and boxes in drug-shops, which 
are all distinguished by peculiar names or labels affixed to them. If that 
were not done, who could distinguish one from the other among so many 
different waters, liquors, syrups, oils, powders, seeds, ointments, and the like ? 
In the same way, too, the alchemist in his laboratory- marks with their own 
proper names and labels, all the waters, liquors, spirits, oils, phlegmata, 
crocuses, alkalis, powders, and then all the different kinds of these, one by one, 
so that he can select from among them whatever he wants. Without this 
safeguard it is impossible to remember each separately. 

Thus also rooms and buildings constructed by men can be signed with a 



Concerning ike Nature of Things, 



111 



number^ so that the ag^e of any of them can be at once known by the first 
glance at the number affixed* 

I determined to lay these signs before you in order that when you had 
mastered these, ! might be more readily understood by you in the rest, 
and that the meaning of each might be plainer and more evident. 

Concerning Monstrous Signs in Men. 

Many men come to the light deformed with monstrous signs. One man 
has a finger too many, another a finger too few j and the same may be the 
case with the toes. Another brings with him from the womb a distorted foot, 
arm, back, or other member ; another has a weak or a hunched back. So also 
there are born hermaphrodites, androg>'nl, men, that is to say, possessing both 
pudenda, male as well as female, and sometimes lacking both* Of monstrous 
signs like this I have noted many, both in males and females, all of which are 
to be regarded as monstrous signs of secret sins m the parents. Hence has 
grown up the old proverb : *'The more distorted, the more wicked**; and again : 
**lame limbs, lame works.*' These are signs of vices, and rarely denote 
anything good. 

Just as the hangman brands his sons with degrading signs, so also bad 
parents mark their ofTspring with mischievous supernatural signs that people 
may be more cautious when they see the example of wicked men w^ho carry 
tho stigmata in their forehead or cheeks, or in defective ears, fingers, hands, 
eyes, or tongues. 

Each of these signs of infamy designates some particular vice. If there 
is a stigma burnt into the face of a woman, or if there be a lopping off of the 
ears, it, for the most part, indicates theft. Loss of fingers tells of cheating 
gamblers. The loss of a hand indicates violators of peace. That of two 
fingers points out perjur)^ The loss of an eye indicates that people engage in 
sharp and subtle crimes. The cutting off of the tongue designates blaspheniers 
and calumniators. So you can recognise those who are called mamelukes, 
or deniers of the Christian religion, by a cross burnt into the heel of their feet, 
because they denied Christ their Redeemer. 

But let us dismiss these matters and return to the monstrous signs 
brought about by wicked parents. It should be known that all monstrous 
signs are not produced only by the progenitor, but frequently also from the 
stars of the human mind, which perpetually at all moments, with the Phantasy, 
Estimation, or Imagination, rise and set just as in the firmament above. 
Hence, through fear or fright on the part of those who are pregnant, many 
monsters are born, or children signed with marks o^ monstrosity in the womb 
of their mother. The primary cause of these things is alarm, terror, or 
appetite, by which the imagination is aroused. If the pregnant woman 
begins to imagine, then her bosom is borne round in its motion just as the 
superior firmament, each movement rising or setting* For, as in the case of 
the greater firmament, the stars o^ the microcosm also move by imagination, 



1/4 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 



until there comes a sort of bounding^, in which the stars of the imagination 
produce an influence and an impression on the pregnant woman, just as 
though one should impress a sea! or stamp a piece of money* Whence those 
signs and birthmarks derived from the lower stars are called ** impressions/' 
About these matters many men have philosophised and tried to form from 
them a solid judgment, without being able to do so. For these things adhere 
to, and are impressed on^ the foetus in proportion as the stars of the mother 
press frequently or with violence on the foetus, or the desire of the mother is 
not satisfied. If the mother, for instance, tongs for this or that kind of food, 
and is unable to get it, the stars are, as It were, suffocated in themselves, and 
perish. That desire abides with the unborn child throughout all its life, so 
that it is impossible ever to satisfy it. The same reason explains other 
matters, too, which we must not discuss here at too great length* 

COKCERNIKG THE ASTRAL SiGNS IN THE PhVSIOGXOMV OF MaN, 

The signs of physiognomy derive their origin from the higher stars. This 
science of physiognomy was held in the highest esteem by our ancestors, and 
among the first by the heathens, Tartars, Turks, and the rest, whose custom 
it is to sell men and slaves j nor was it altogether lost among Christians, 
Many errors, however, which had not yet been perceived by anyone, crept in 
with it when every fool and every clown took upon himself to judge offhand 
about everything. It is marvellous that these mistakes were not found out 
from the evil deeds and limited powers of the men themselves. 

Now if anyone at this point argues against us, saying, *'The signs of 
physiognomy are from the stars, but no one has the power of compelling or 
urging on the stars, '^ he does not speak amiss. Yet, this difference must be 
noted at the outset, that the stars compel one and do not compel another. 
This ought to be known, who it is that can rule and coerce the stars, and also 
who is governed by the stars. The wise man can dominate the stars, and is not 
subject to themr Nay. the stars are subject to the wise man, and are forced 
to obey him, not he the stars. The stars compel and coerce the animal man, 
so that where they lead he must follow, just as a thief does the gallows, a 
robber the wheel, a fisher the fishes, a fowler the birds, and a hunter the wild 
beasts. What other reason is there for this, save that man does not know or 
estimate himself or his own powers, or reflect that he is a lesser universe, and 
has the whole firmament with its powers hidden within himself? Thus man 
is called animal and unwise and the slave of all earthly things, when, never- 
theless, he received from God in Paradise the privilege of ruling over and 
dominating all other creatures, and not of obeying them. So it was that God 
crea^ted man last, when all other things had been made before him. This 
right was afterwards lost by the Fall. Yet, the wisdom of man was not made 
servile, nor did he lose his freedom. It is right, then, that the stars should 
follow him and obey him, not he the stars. And although he is the son of 
Saturn, and Saturn is his parent, still he can withdraw himself from him, and 



rii 




Concerning the Nature of Things. 

so conquer him that he becomes the offspring of the Sun, and can thus subject 
himself to another planet, and tnake himself its son. It happens much in the 
same way to him as to the miner, who for a long time has hired out his labour 
to the master of the mines, and managed his department righteously at peril 
of his life. At length he holds this discourse with himself: ** Are you going 
to spend all your life underground and endanger your body, nayi your very 
existence, by continuous labours? I will seek release from my master, and 
follow another where my life shall flow pleasantly on, where I shall have 
plenty of food and drink, where my garments may shine, where no work and 
much reward shall be given to me, and where I shall not be oppressed by the 
mountain overhanging me/' In this way he can constitute himself lord where 
otherwise he would remain all his life a slave and mercenary, wasting away 
with hard labour and scanty food. 

Moreover, as you have now perceived that man rules the stars, and can 
free himself from a malignant planet and subject himself to another better one, 
from slavery pass by virtue to freedom, and rescue himself from the prison of 
an evil planet, so also the animal man who is the son of Sol, Jupiter, Venus, 
or Mercury, can withdraw himself from that benignant planet and subject 
himself to Saturn or to Mars. This man is like one who, fleeing from a 
college of religions, and being tired of their soft life, becomes a soldier, or in 
other respects a man of no esteem, who must afterwards spend all his life in 
pain and care. Such, too, is the rich man, who, out of mere levity, wastes 
all his goods unjustly, gambling, feasting^ keeping evil company, until at last, 
w^hen all is gone, he comes to want, and in miserable conflict with discreditable 
poverty he deservedly rouses laughter and contempt in all, so that you hear 
even from the boys in the streets : ** Look at yonder worthless man, who, 
when he could have been master, scorned dominion and preferred to be a 
slave, a beggar, a servant of servants, so that he cannot now even aspire to 
his dominion.*' It is to this that a bad star or a bad parent has led him. 
Had he not been foolish and wicked, he w^ould not have left to the stars so 
unquestioned a dominion over himself, but he would have struggled against 
them. /\nd, although of himself he had not known how to fight against his 
stars, yet he could have turned his mind to the examples of other men, 
thinking thus within himself: ** See how rich this man w^as ; but by foolish 
and shameful enterprises he involved himself in mere poverty ! '' Again, 
"*This or that man lived splendidly, and without any great bodily labour ; 
but, though having got good food and ample pay, he was not able to bear his 
fair fortune. Now he has to live frugally and sordidly. In place of wine he has 
to drink water, and whilst his daily labour increases his income is diminished." 
How often must such a man thus address himself : *' What have I done ? How 
have I thrown myself headlong down by wasting prodigally the substance I 
had collected and acquired? Who will restore it to me? If I could only 
recover what 1 have lost, quite another mode of life should be begun, and so 
1 would learn wisdom from my own loss, and compensate for my e\il deeds 



176 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

by wiser counsel for the future/' But it is well to know that nobody g^rows 
wise from his own loss. He who is wise has learnt wisdom from another's 
loss, not from his own» He who has wasted his substance once will waste 
it again* He who perishes once, perishes again. He who once throws the 
dice will throw them again* The man who has once thieved and cheated the 
gallows tries to steal a second time. So he thus thinks within himself : ** My 
undertaking has succeeded once and again » why !>hould it not succeed a third 
and a fourth time? If God has once restored what had perished, He will 
restore it a second and a third time. If in my first misery I have not been 
deserted, I shall not be in my second or my third.'' All this does the animal 
man who is the servant and slave of the stars ; who is swayed backwards and 
forwards by the stars like a reed in the waters. This rs the reason why he 
has to spend his life in misery and so to die in diishonour. Who, then» would 
bear so disgraceful a slavery and not extricate himself from so squalid a 
prison ? For by bringing to bear his own wisdom, and with the help of his 
star, anyone can free himself. Look at the matter thus : A fowler, relying on 
his own prudence, and by the assistance of his star conquering another star, 
has no need to pursue birds, for the birds will follow him, and though their 
nature rebel they will fly together to unaccustomed places. In like manner, to 
the fisherman at his ease and relying on his wisdom, the fishes will swim of 
their own accord, so that he can catch them with his hands. The hunter 
exerting his wisdom by means of his star so collects the wild beasts that he 
has no need to pursue them ; they pursue him, contrary to the guidance and 
impulse of Nature. And so also with other living creatures. 

In order to grasp these things it must be remembered that stars are of 
two kindSf terrestrial and celestial. The former belong to folly, the latter to 
wisdom. And as there are two worlds, the lesser and the larger, and the 
lesser rules the larger, so also the Star of the Microcosm governs and subdues 
the celestial star. God did not create the planets and stars with the intention 
that they should dominate man, but that they, like other creatures, should 
obey him and serve him, .^\nd although the higher stars do give the in- 
clination, and, as it were, sign man and other earthly bodies for the manner of 
their birth, yet that power and that dominion are nothing, save only a 
predestined mandate and ofBce, in which there is nothing occult or abstruse 
remaining, but the inner force and power is put forth through the external 
signs. 

But to return to our proposition concerning the physical signs of men : 
know that these are twofold, like indeed in outward form, liut dissimilar in 
power and effect. Some are from the upper stars of heaven ; others from the 
lower stars of the microcosm. Every superior star signs according to birth 
up to mid-age. That signature is predestined, and is not without its own 
peculiar force. It is attested by a man's nature and condition of life. But 
whatever the lower star of the microcosm signs from birth has its origin from 
the father and the mother, as often as the mother affects by her imagination or 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 



177 



appetite, her fear or dread, the unborn child in her body with supernatural 
signs by means of their own close contact. These are called mothers' marks, 
or uterine marks. We have spoken of these before, so spare ourselves the 
labour of repetition, since it is our purpose to treat of physiognomical signs 
alone, among which we understand those signs of men the like whereof neither 
the father nor the mother have borne in their body. Of this class are black or 
grey eyes, too small or too large ; a long, crooked^ or sharp-pointed nose ; 
hollows in the jaws, high cheekbones, a flat or broad nose, small or large 
ears, a long neck, an obbng face, a mouth large and drawn down ; hair thick 
or fine» abundant or scanty, black, yellow, or red, etc. Of these signs, if one 
or more appear in a man, be sure that he will not lack the qualities signified 
thereby. Only you must judge them according to the rules of physiognomy, 
and have had experience in the art of signature, according to which you can 
judge a man by outward signs. 

Descending, then, to the practical portion of our subject, let us repeat a 
few of these signs and their signification. 

Black eyes not only denote a healthy constitution, but also, for the most 
part, a constant mind free from doubt and fear, healthy and hearty, truthful 
and loving virtue. 

Grey eyes are the sign of a crafty man, ambiguous and inconsistent. 
Weak eyes denote good counsels, clever and profound deliberations, and so 
on. Bright eyes, which turn up, down, and to both sides, denote a false, 
clever man, who cannot be deceived, faithless, shirking work, desirous of 
ease, seeking to gain his livelihood in laziness, by gambling* usury% impurity, 
theft, and the like. 

Small eyes, somewhat deeply sunk, indicate weak sight, and often 
impending blindness in old age. At the same time, they denote brave men, 
bellicose, crafty, and adroit, factious, capable of enduring misfortune^ and 
whose departure from life is, for the most part, of a tragic character. 

Large eyes denote a greedy, voracious man, especially if they project far 
out of the head. 

Eyes which are constantly w^inking indicate weak sight, a timid and care- 
ful man. Eyes which move quickly hither and thither, under the glance oi 
men, indicate an amorous heart, provident, and of quick invention. 

Eyes continually cast dow*n show a reverential and modest man. 

Red eyes show a bold, brave man. 

Glittering eyes, which do not move readily, point out a hero, a high- 
minded, brave, quick man, formidable to his foes. 

Large ears indicate good hearing, retentive memory, attention, diligence, 
a healthy brain and head. 

Depressed ears are a bad sigm For the most part they point out a man 
who is malicious, fraudulent, and unjust. They indicate bad hearing, treacher- 
ous memory, and a man who readily exposes himself to danger. 



N 



1 78 The Hertnciu and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

A long nose curved downwards is a good sign. It denotes a strenuous, 
provident man, occult and cruel, but still just. 

A flat nose indicates a malignant man, false^ lustful, untruthful, in- 
constant, 

A pointed nose indicates a changeable person, given to mockerj'. 

A long nose shews a man slow in business, yet of good odour. 

Hollow cheeks denote a talkative, contemptuous, contentious person. 

An oblong chin, with a long face, shews an irritable man, one who is 
slow at his work, 

A cleft chin shews a faithful man, officious, of abstruse and diversified 
speech ; a man who says one thing and means another ; quick at anger, yet 
repenting of his passion ; ingenious and inventive. 

A large, wide mouth shews a gluttonous man, insipid, fatuous, shameless, 
and fearless. A small mouth indicates the contrary. 

Lips drawn together, when the upper is larger than the lower, shew^ an 
irritable man, pugnacious, courageous ; yet for the most part of heavy, un- 
chaste character, like a pig. 

Lips larger below shew a dense, stupid, slow person. 

Concerning the hair of the head or beard, the signs are not very plain, 
since experience teaches us that this can be marvellously varied according 
as it is black, yellow, red, or white, and hoary, or curled. So, too, hair 
is rendered soft or hard according to people's wish. Hence it is that many 
persons, who are In other respects well-skilled in physiognomical science, are 
woefully deceived when they rashly pass judgment from the hair, imputing to 
the stars what should rather be ascribed to men. Still it cannot be denied 
that hair firmly fixed on the head she\vs good health, both of the head and of 
the whole body* This is why people who buy horses pluck their tails so as to 
judge of their soundness. So swine are judged by their bristles, fish from their 
fins and scales, a bird by its feathers, and so on. 

If the neck is unusually long, transcending the limits of Nature, it denotes 
a careful man, prudent and attentive. 

Broad shoulders and back shew a man w^ho is strong for carr}^ing and 
moving things. Muscular arms also shew a man who is strong and robust 
in beating, thrusting, throwing* and the like. 

Hard hands bespeak a laborious, mercenar}' man ; soft hands, the 
contrary. 

A short body and long legs denote a good runner, one who is easily 
satisfied with food and drink, but generally a man of somewhat short life. 

Large and conspicuous veins in a man below mid age signify that he 
is full of blood and bodily juices ; but above middle age they denote a sickly 
man who is still, however, vivacious. 

With reference to manners and gesture, a man cannot be so easily known 
or judged from these. Experience teaches us that these can be changed every 
moment, so as to deceive the signator, and lead him to an erroneous judgment. 



Comerning the Nature of T/iings, 



n9 



This is what astronomers hitherto have not observed with sufficient accuracy. 
The signator's business Is not always to look at the manners and actions, but 
rather at other bodily sig^ns which are fixed, and cannot by any artifice be 
counterfeited or changed. For if red hairj motion of the forehead and eye- 
brows, frequent agitation of the mouth, strong and deliberate step, and light 
spirits, indicate of necessity a generous, active man, or soldier, such as any 
one could easily shew himself by his own activity, and so stand better when 
put to the proof, and command higher pay, so, likewise, must judgment be 
passed on other manners which betoken wisdom, folly, truth, falsehood, fortune^ 
victory, and the rest. 

Concerning the Astral Signs of Chiromancy,* 

Concerning the signs of chiromancy it should be held that they arise 
from the higher stars of the seven planets, and all of them ought to be learnt 
and judged from the seven planets. Now, Chiromancy is a science which not 
only inspects the hands of men, and from their lines and wrinkles makes its 
judgment, but, moreover, it also considers all herbs, woods, flints, earths, 
and rivers =in a word, whatever has lines, veins, and wrinkles. But neither 
is this science free from its errors, which astronomers have alleged against it. 
For they have assigned the fingers of both hands to the planets and the 
principal stars, when, notwithstanding, there are on one hand only ^\q fingers 
but on both hands ten, while the planets are only seven in number. How 
can these things be made to agree ? Now, if there were s^\^n fingers on 
each hand, then it might be possible to assign a finger to each of the planets. 
It happens, indeed, very often that a man only has seven fingers on his two 
hands* the others being lost by some accident* But still the stumps exist, 
and, moreover, the persons were not born in this way, so this matter has no 
relevance here. Besides, if it did so happen that a man was born with seven 
fingers either on one hand or on both, that would be a monstrous birth, not 
according to Nature, and therefore not to be assigned to the stars. So here, 
again J no comparison can be instituted. It would have been better, then, 
that the planets should cast lots and see which two ought to retire. This, 
however, could not be done, because the planets had neither dice nor lots up 
in the firmament ; so one wonders who took it upon him to allot the planets 
by name, giving the thumb to Venus» the index finger to Jupiter, the middle 



* It U a great ti chiromancy is concerned only with the hands^ for tc includes the «igiufiauice of the 

lines upon the entire nfincd lo ihc body of tnan, for it deals also with the trunks of trees^ and with the 

iracery upon the let £vcry' peculiarity of line, ^irhetber in leaves or in human haniis, ha£ its special tneaiung. 

No man dcscrv*^ t. a jcior who is ignorant of chiromancj^ because, for easample, the presence upon the hand 

of chose line LJLHicd, itHft* ttrxhitetttr^ indicate that the penon will be likely to die of the colic ; but Uien 

lliercare cer: >ich pos&caidi corresponding line». and these leaves are the cure of colic* So also the //«/« 

AMCffTft is the Unc ot ^ipopIexy« and this line is found in the aconis (r'.r,^ the sweet flag)i which is a medicine of 
apoplexy. . . .. Thus by the same sign Nature indicates the exlsteiice of the disease and its renrcdy. Eui the 
ph^-^ician who U ignorant of the sign U ignorant of everything. But as ph^'siognomy is both outward and inward^ so 
there is an internal and external chiromancy, and that which is without is an evidence of thai ^Uich h. within. — i)«ii' 
AUi Libri dt Podjgricu M^t^U^ Lib. I. 1 have frequently in<ticated that chiromanc)' »s tl*e invifnires* of arts, if it 
be cftbeilistically treated, - /># frsU, Lib. JL, Vrrf, 

N2 



1 80 The Hennetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

finger to Saturn, the ring finger or medicus to the Sun, and the little finger to 
Mercury, Meanwhile, Mars and the Moon were, so to say, banished. Would 
one be surprised, then, if in righteous indignation Mars bade his sons kill that 
allotter, or keep up continual strife with him ; or who would wonder if the 
Moon weakened his brain, or took his wits away altogether ? And this is the 
first error which we say has been committed in chiromancy. 

The second mistake is this. It often happens that the original natural 
lines of the hands are changed by injuries or chance accidents, or become larger 
or smaller, or appear in other places. It is just as if a road were blocked with 
some obstacle, or covered by a mountain falling on it, or destroyed by an 
inundation. Men would make another road near it. So with the old lines 
of the hand. Sometimes when wounds or ulcers have healed, along with the 
new flesh new lines come into existence* and the old ones are altogether 
blotted out. In the same way, by hard work lines are obliterated, or those 
which were there originally enlarged. Then the same thing happens as with 
trees* If the growing tree puts forth many leaves, a number of them are cut 
oflf and the tree is enlarged in size. 

And now let us pass on to the practical part of this science of chiro- 
mancy, and in a few words disclose our opinion. I would ha%'e you know 
that, so far as relates to hands, I make no change therein, but I acquiesce 
with the observations and descriptions of the ancients* But in this practical 
chiromancy I have undertaken to write only of those matters which the 
ancients have not mentioned, as concerning the chiromancy of herbs, woods, 
stones, and the like. And first it should be remarked that all herbs, of what- 
ever kind they are, belong to one and the same chiromancy. If their lines 
are unlike, and appear greater or less in some than in others, this is through 
their age. We expressly avow that the chiromancy of herbs confers no other 
advantage beyond enabling us to know the age of any herb or root. 

Someone in arguing may urge and assert that no herb as long as it 
adheres to its root can be more than four or at the most five months old, that is, 
reckoning from May to autumn, after which time every herb perishes and 
drops away from its root. To this I answer that a unique virtue exists in 
the root, which is the first essence and spirit of the herb, from which the 
herb is born and sustained to its predestined time, and so is exalted right up 
to the production of the seed. And this is the sign or indication that the 
virtue goes back again into the root, and thus the herb withers. But as long 
as that spirit, which is the supreme force of the herb, remains in the root, 
every year that herb is renewed, unless it happens that the spirit is taken away, 
and withers along with the herb. Then for that herb there is no renovation. 
The root is dead, and xxo longer has life in it. But how that spirit is taken 
away with the herb from the root, or with the root from the earth, so that its 
virtue goes back either into the root, or from the root into the earth, must not 
be discussed in this place. It is Nature *s sublime myster>% not to be put forth 
for the benefit of sophistical physicians, for whom such secrets are not only a 



Concerfiing the Nature of Things. 



iSi 



mockery but a cause of contempt. What we here omit we will give in 
the Herbary.* 

The younger and less full of years herbs are the more do they excel in 
their force and their faculties* For just as man is enervated by old age, and 
fails in his natural powers, so also is it with herbs. 

But in order to know what is the chiromancy, and what the age, of herbs 
and similar bodies, long experience is required, since the number of years is 
not written upon them but has to be di%ined solely by chiromancy, as we have 
said* Now chiromancy supplies, not numbers, not letters, not characters, 
only lines and veins and wrinkles ^ as a means of reckoning the age. The 
older anything is the larger and more visible are the lines exhibited, and the 
virtue and operation of the thing are less active. For as a disease of one 
month or one year is more easily cured than one of two, three, four, five 
months or years, so a herb of owe year more quickly cures its disease than one 
of two or three years. And on this account for old ills young herbs and those 
which have fewer years should be given, but for recent ailments old herbs and 
medicines should be administered. For if old be joined to old, the blind leads 
the blind and both fall into the ditch. This is the reason why many medicines 
arc inoperative. They are in the body and they fill the limbs, but only as mud 
sticks to the shoes. Hence the diseases are often doubled. 

Now here is a matter which, up to this time, has never been thought out 
by unskilled sophists, while by their ignorance they have lost more patients 
than they cured. The very first thing you physicians ought to know is that 
the medicine must always be younger than the disease, in order that it may 
get the better of it, and be stronger in expelling it. If the medicine be more 
powerful than the disease, the disease will be expelled, as fire will be extin- 
guished by water. If the disease be more powerful than the medicine, that 
medicine turns into a poison^ and afterwards diseases are redoubled and made 
more severe. Thus, if the disease be of iron, the medicine must be steel. 
Steel cannot be conquered by iron. The more powerful conquers » the 
weaker is subdued. 

Although, therefore, it was no part of my original plan to write in this place 
anything about medicine, still, for the sake of true and genuine physicians, I 
could not pass by these matters in silence. 

Concerning Mineral Signs. 
Minerals and metals, apart from fire and dry material, show their indica- 
tions and signs which they have received at once from the Archeus and from 
the higher stars, each one telling its genus by differences of colour and of 
earth. The mineral of gold differs from the mineral of silver. So the mineral 
of silver differs from the mineral of copper. The mineral of copper differs 



* The H*r6«rim TAf^/Arvsit\ coticcmtns the nrtue» of hrrbft, roott, and feeds, etc, irill be fouod in the aecood 
vol aoie of the Geneva folio. It i& aui incomplete treatUe which di<«tuscs the virtues of bl&ck be!kbore, perucariii, 
common »ali, carduu^ aiigcUciu* corab, and the magneu The portions of this tm^itifte to which reference it made 



1 82 The Hernutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

from the mineral of iron. So also that of iron from that of tin and of lead. 
And so with the rest* None can deny, then, that by means of chiromancy all 
minerals and metallic bodies of mines, which lie hid in secret places of the 
earth, may be known from their external sig^s. That is the chiromancy of 
mines, veins, and lodes, by which not only those things which are hidden 
within are brought forth, but also the exact depth and richness of the mine 
and )aeld of metal are made manifest. Now, in this chiromancy three things 
are necessarj' to be known, the age» depth, and breadth of the veins, as was 
said just now in the case of herbs. For the older its veins, the richer and more 
abundant in metals is the mine* On this subject one would reason that all 
metals, so long as they remain in their matrix, so long do they continually 
increase. Whence this, too, is clear, that any growing thing, even when 
placed outside its matrix, cannot grow less, but is thereupon increased, that 
is, multiplied, and goes on growing in substance, measure, and w^eight up to 
its predestined time. This predestined time is a third part of the destined 
age of all minerals, vegetables, and animals, which are the three chief genera 
of all terrestrial things. That which is still in its matrix grows until the 
matrix itself dies. For there is a predestined period of living and dying, even 
for the matrix, provided only it be subjected to the external elements. That 
which is not so subjected has no period^ no terminus, other than the elements 
themselves have, together with which, at the last day, which is the end of 
those elements, it will perish. Hence it follows that all things which are 
below the earth are in the least possible degree subjected to the elements. 
For they feel neither heat nor cold, moisture nor drought, wind nor air, by 
which they may be destroyed. Bodies so situated, therefore, cannot decay, 
nor do they gatlier rust and corruption, nor perish, so long as they remain 
below^ the earth in their own chaos* This relates so far to metals and stones, 
but it applies also to men, many of w^hom have supported themselves for a 
hundred years in mountain-caves, as did the giants and the pigmies, con- 
cerning each of which I have written a book.* 

* Men or abnomuiJI height, who, however, are naturally begotten, arc dtslingubhed b)" Paracelsus from another 
geniUi of s^iaats who belong to a wholly different onier of eiistence* Concerning ihe generaiton of giants and dwarfs, 
k is to b« umlerstood that giants are bom of sylphs and dwarfs of pigmies. These beget various tnonster«, and it 
should! be noted that both giant» and dwarfs are possessed of remarkable strength. They are not a luiu* ttaturo'^ but 
are the product of a singular counsel and admontlton of God. They deserve consideration on account of the great 
ochievemeitts they accomplish. Moreover, being monsters, produced in a singular manner by God, they finish witliout 
OfTspring aa to body and btood. Their parents have not the same kind of soul as ihemielvcs. They are the offspring of 
animal men, and hence it follows that they have derived no souls from their pjarents, although ihey have performed! 
many great deeds, have studied the truth, and have accomplished many other things, from which the posse^io<n of a 
boul might be argued. God, had he so willed, could have endowed these creatures with »ouls, as is sbewn by ilie union 
of man with God, arvd of the nymphs with man* Whatsoever good deeds they may perform they are not on that 
account partakers of salvation. White it 1% impossihie to give a clear account of the way in which sunb moiiiilcrs 
originate, it may be compared to the generation of erratic stars and comets in the Urmameni, and it is actually the 

result of a bintrrf conjunction in. the finnanieni of ihe Microco«m^ Pygmies, like oilier creatures of this 

kind, that is, like nymphs^ sylphs, and salamanders, are not of the generation of Adam, though ihey Itcar the likeness 
of men, hut are cqu.ally diverse fromi humanity and from all animals, . . , . . Pygmies and *fltniei arc regarded 
as spirits, and not such creatures as they appear. Hut it should be understood that they are what they seem to Ije, 
namely, beings of fSah and blood. At the same time, they are as agile and sia ift as a spirit. They know all future, 
prej»ent, and post things, which are not preicnt to the eyes themselves, but are hidden. Herein they ser\e man by 
revelations, premonitions, etc They have reason in commcm with man, save only the >ouL They have the knowledge 
and the reason of spirits, if we ej^cept those thing>> which ijcrtain to the ivilnrc t>f GocL Endowed with ^wh grc.-it 




Concerning the N'aturt of Things, 



183 



In pursuit of our present purpose, then, I pass on to a very brief 
practical exposition concerning^ the chiromancy of mines* The deeper and 
broader the veins are, the older they may be known to be. When the tracts 
of the veins are stretched to a very long distance, and then gape, it is a 
bad sign. For as the courses of the veins gape, so the mines themselves 
gape, which fact they indicate by their depth- Although sometimes good 
mines are found with a very deep descent, they for the most part vanish 
more and more, so that they cannot be worked without great expenditure of 
toil. But where those veins are increased by other accessory ones, or in any 
other way are frequently cut off, that is a fortunate sign, indicating that the 
mines are good not only on the surface, but that they increase in depth and 
are multiplied, so that they are rendered rich mines, and yield most ample 
treasure. 

It is not altogether beside the subject that many metallurgists praise 
those mines whose course is straight down, and which verge from east to 
west. But then reasoning and experience in the mines themselves also teach 
us that very often veins which stretch from west to east, or from south to 
north, or, contrariwise, from north to south, abound in metal no less than 
others. No one vein, then, is to be preferred before another, nor is there any 
need of further discussion on this point. 

Then with regard to those signs which concern the colourKS of minerals 
and inner earth, one may dispose of them briefly. When miners come upon 
clayey soil, from which issues a vein of pure and fresh metal, that is a very 
good sign» indicating that the metal of which this is a vein is now not far off. 

In like manner, if the earth which is dug out lacks metal, indeed, but is 
fat, and of a white, black, clayey, red, green, or blue colour, then that, too, 
is a favourable sign of good metal lying hid there. Then the work which has 
been begun should be briskly carried on, and no pause be made in the digging. 
Metallurgists especially regard brilliant, glittering, and primary colours, as are 
green earth or chrj^socolla, copper green, lazurium, cinnabar, sandarach, auri- 

powen, they lead and attract mAO to moke experiments and to believe about Htm- Whererore God hath produced 
them thdt XMkXi ttuiy learn frotn hb acquaintance with thcin what great thing* God urorks in those creature*.. Gnomei 
('''m pignnio) are Uke unto men, but of stunted stature. They ore about half tli* mm of man,, or a Utile taller. . . . 

The devil at time* enters into gnooies and miaiitcr* unto them IT the gnomes haii-e once bound tbeimielves 

to our &er\ ice, they ibide by their bargain, but the)' require to be served in turn, and those thiu^i^ ought to be given liO 
them which they rcquesL If the pacts into which we enter with them ore fuliillod on our part, they remain sure, 
constants atnl faithful in tlieir oflice, especially in obuining money. For the gneaacft abound in money, which thry coin 
lheim>clve%. You must understand \\\\% a» follows : The tpirii ho* whatsoever it «mh€», for if a gnome de&ires a certaiii 
ftum of cnone>% he obLaini it and ha* it. In tlm mantier they gi^-e money to many men inhabiting the mountains to 
penuade them to go away again. The lot of man ift stxy hard. To hope or to wiOi wilt proHt him nothing, and he 
aimt firork for all be wonts ; but the gnomes have wbolcver Ihey »eek without any labour in getting or preparing 
it. • , , . Cooceming their day and night, their sleeping and waking hotir», the ca»e is exactly the lame with them 
as with men. Moreover* they have a sun and a ArmafncJit no les* than wr ^lave, that U, the giiome« have the esarih 
which is their chooo. Tlii* is to them only as our atmosphere ; it is not as «Afth to them \xv our sense. Hetite it fotloVfTh 
that thry see through the earth just as do we through the air. .\nd the sun vhineii for tJiem through the earth as it doca 
for tjs through tlie air. Fur they liave the sun, the moon, aftd ihe whole Armament Wfore their c^ ts, even as have «e 
men* , . . The gnooies dwell in the mountain diaos in which they couMrwcl iheir dwellings. Hetitc it \% ibal very 
often RTches, cases, and other titntlnr consiruclions are found in the earth, atinut a cuUt in height, the work of thc»e 

men. and their baUlaltoti The gnomes pas* through Malid rocks of t^ alls like spirits, for all iheae things are 

to them chao«« that ist nothing. .... The more cross the rh^'kos, the more subtle is the creature, and vkt iv'M. 
The gnotnes lui^>e a crass chao4 mid are therefore Mibtic - ZV tjttim^ti* et Sttiitmatitirh. 



184 The Hermetic and Alchemical WriUngs 0/ Paracelsus. 

pig-ment, litharge of gold and silver, etc. Nearly ever}' one of these points 
out some special metal and mineral. Copper green, chrysocolla, and green earth 
indicate generally copper. So, too, lazurium^ or white arsenic, or litharge of 
silver, mark copper metal. So cinnabar and sandaracha point out sometimes 
gold, sometimes silver, or the two together in combination. In the same way, 
auripigmcnt, red sulphur, or litharge of gold, for the most part portend gold. 
So, too, when chrysocolla with lazurium, or lazurium with chrysocolla and 
aurlpigment, are found mixed and combined^ excellent and rich minerals are 
generally indicated. When stones and earths of a ferruginous colour are seen 
they certainly designate Iron mineral. 

It should be remarked that it sometimes happens the Archeus of the earth 
occasionally thrusts forth, and, as it were, eructates from the lower earth some 
metal or other through a hidden burrow. That is a good sign when it appears. 
Diggers, therefore, should not relax their labours in face of such a sure and 
remarkable hope of hidden metal. If, moreover, slight metallic foliage, like 
talc, adheres to the stones or rocks, it is a sure and a good sign* 

Then as to coruscations. These should be carefully and closely watched. 
They are most certain signs that lodes of some particuliar metal exist, also of 
their extent, and of that special kind of metal. Here, too, it should be remarked, 
that metals of this kind have not yet come to perfect maturity, but are still in 
their first essence. In whichever direction the coruscation extends, in that 
direction also extends the metallic lode. 

Then, too, it must be known that the coruscation is threefold in colour, as, 
for instance, vl hite, yellow, and red, for example, like white Luna. In this way 
all the metals which they indicate to us are recognised. A white coruscation 
points out white metals, such as tin, lead, silver. A red coruscation denotes 
red metals, like copper and iron. A yellow coruscation reveals golden metals, 
.^dd to this that a slight and subtle coruscation constitutes the best sign. It is 
just as you see in the case of trees ; where there are fewer flowers you get 
better fruit. So, too, small and subtle coniscations indicate subtle and 
excellent metals^ and vice versa. In addition to this, it should be known that 
so long as these effulgences appear, be they great or small, of this colour or 
of that, the metal is not yet perfect and matured in its ore, but still exists in its 
first essence, like the man's sperm in the matrix of the woman. 

Now let us explain what this coruscation is. It appears sometimes during 
the night in mines like scintillating fire, just as gunpowder, scattered in a 
long train and when lighted at one end^ exhibits a protracted fire. In the 
same way, this coruscation, or scintillation, is borne along its own track, some- 
times from east to west, or, contrariwise, from west to east, from south to 
north, or vice rersa. And so, a straight line drawn from any hour or part of 
the mountain map towards the nearest hour opposite, divides into two parts 
the map which is marked off into twenty-four hours or parts. 

All these coruscations, whenever they appear, afford most reliable indica- 
tions of metaHic lodes, so that from them may be recognised the metals too 



Concerning the Nature of Things. 

as certain gifts of God coming out of the earth. For whatever God has 
created for the use of men that He has put in man's hands as a property, so 
that it should not remain hidden. And although He has created it hidden, yet 
He has added these parlicular outward signs leading to investigation. Here 
His marvellous predestination ought to be recognised. Just in the same way, 
men themselves, if they bury treasure, mark the place by the addition of some 
sure signst They bury them at landmarks, or statues^ or fountains, or some 
other object, so that, if need be, they themselves can find them again and dig 
them up. The old Chaldeans and Greeks, if in time of war they feared siege 
and exile, buried their treasures, and only marked the place by proposing to 
themselves a certain fixed day, hour, and minute of the year. They waited 
until the sun or the moon cast a shadow there, and in that spot they hid or 
buried their treasures. This art they called Sciomancy or the Art of Shadows. 
From these studies of shadows many arts arose, and many occult matters 
were revealed, as, for example, the methods by which all spirits and sidereal 
bodies might be distinguished. These are the infallible cabalistical signs ; 
and should be carefully watched. 

You must take particular care, however, not to let yourselves be beguiled 
by divinations obtained through uncertain arts. These are varn and mislead- 
ing J and among the first of them are the divining rods, which have deceived 
many miners.* If they once point out rightly, they deceive ten or twenty 
times. In like manner, no confidence should be placed in other deceitful signs 
of 'the devil, which appear by night or at unseasonable times, out of the way 
of Nature, such as are spectres, visions, and the like. Be sure that the devil 
gives these signs merely from fraud, and with intent to trick you. No temple 
is ever built where the devil does not have his chapel ; no chapel where he 
has not his altar. Good seed is never sown, but he sows tares along with it. 
That is the meaning of visions and supernatural apparitions, the same in all, 
be It in crystals, mirrors, waters, or the like. The ceremonial necromancers 
have foully abused the commandment of God and the light of Nature itself tn 
this way. Visions, however, are not altogether to be rejected. They hav^e 
their place, but only when produced by a different method. We are now no 
longer living in the first but in the second generation. By us Christians then, 
in our regenerate state, ceremonies and conjurations are no longer to be used, 
as the ancients used them in the Old Testament, for these people were living 
in the first generation. These men were foresh ado wings for us who were to 
live under the New Testament. Whatever, therefore, the ancients, under the 
Old Testament, or the first generation, accomplished by means of ceremonies 
and conjurations, all these things, we Christians, who belong to the second 
generation, and live under the New^ Testament, ought to obtain by prayer, 
that is, we should seek it in faith by praying, knocking, and asking. In these 
three primar>' points consists the whole foundation of magical and cabalistical 

* EUewbere ParacoUus say* iHul il b ttalh wbicb twm» and direct* the divtnatory rad in the hand.- 



1 86 The Hermdk and Alchemkal Writings of Paracelsus. 

science, by which we can gain all we desire, so that to us as Christians nothing 
shall be impossible. Having written^ however, much about this in the book 
on Visions,* and other cabaiistical institutions, I forbear to repeat it here. See 
how wonderfully, in His love for us, Christ, the Son of God, works in us, 
faithful Christians, by means of His angels, and how fraternally He associates 
with us. We are very angels, and members of Christy since He is our head, 
that is, He lives in us, that so we may live in Him, as is handed down in the 
books on The Lord's Supper, t 

But to return to our subject of mineral signs, and especially to the 
coruscations from metallic veins. Know that as all metals which are still 
in their first essence exhibit their coruscations, that is, their signs, so also 
the Tincture of the Philosophers, which transmutes all imperfect metals into 
good silver or gold (white metals into silver, red into gold), removes all these 
particular signs, such as coruscations, if it be astrally perfected and prepared. 
For as soon as ever a little morsel of it is thrown into the fused metaJ, so that 
the two meet in the fire, a natural coruscation or brightness arises, just as 
fine gold or silver flashes in the vat or vessel, w^hich is a sign that this gold 
or silver is free and purified from all admixture of other metals. But how our 
Philosophic Tincture is rendered astral is a thing that ought to be learnt. 
Every metal, so long as it lies hid in its first essence, has its own peculiar 
stars* Gold has the stars of the sun ; silver the stars of the moon ; copper 



• Nit oral sleep U the rest of the body, irfaidi rBc u p cra t» its waited energies ^o* the d*y pertaiii» to bodies, 
night to spirits ; bodies work in the day, spirits at night. The »[eep of the body b the waking time of the spirit, for th« 
two caimoi operate together, being contranes^axui mutually incompatible things. Viliatsoever is done by the body during 
»Ieep is really performed \*f the «pirit. For some speak and give aiiawers in their sleep ; some arise afid walk th^cin. 
but all ihi^ is done by the spirit gorveming the body. Hence it happen.^ that if such a man be called b>- his natne, be 
wakes up because the spirit in him is terrified by being called by the name of the maii« for spirits arc no less tcrrilicd by 
Ihe vvfice of a man than are men by the voice of a «piTit. The man in baptism receives a oaine^ but not so the spirit. 
Therefore the spirit is terrified when the man b called. Hence slecp-iA-alkcrs should fay no means be left alone in their 
ro<!ffn»« ftod this b espectally Ibe case with Ihote who ate afflicted by the Sagse, ur.^ divinatory spirits, because it U of 
greiat unportaDce that sisch perso«» should be addressed by njune, for thus all noctumjd divining spirits, and all 
formidable spectres, and aJ) waking visions, are driven away and dispelled. But it should be noted, that all men, 
promiscuously* who talk in their sleep, are not thus to be invoked or shout«l at* because they may be in communion 
M^ith a spirit whose voice is oot heard For, although the spirit voice may be much clearer than that of humanity, it b 
not audible commonly by humanltyr for the material ear can be, and is, closed by the power of such an intelligeocet as b 
wetl known to those who divine by nigromancy by nvouis of the spirits of the air, who are intermediate spirits, neither 
precisely good nor evil. No man holding such a conv^sation should be disturbed, so long as his accents are cheerft:!* 
but if he answers with trembling, fear, and consterDation, this is a sign of a bad apparition, and such a person ought to 
be awakened b>' shouting. Such conversations arc not, however, aJu-ay-% conducted with the bodily organs of voice on 
the part of the sleeper, but also with those of the spirit^ in which case there is no audible sound* and this lost kind of 
speech u not only more frequent but of greater Lmportonce. It was profoundly investigated by the ancient Magi« who 
by thb means could extract from the spirits of the departed a knowledge of those secrets which they had conceakd 
from the whole world while they yet lived in the Ijody. In this way they bccanve acquainted m iih the m^'steries of 
Alchemy, Astronomy, ^Vstrology. Medicine, Theolog],', etc, namely, by direct communication of their spirits with the 
•pints of those who had professed these science on earth. In order to acquire the arcane method of communication 
with such intelligences, the 6[rst reqttisite b to implore by faith the mercy of God in the matter ; then we must, also with 
faith, make an image of that man with whooi we desire to communicate. On the body of such image the naine of the 
man must be written, and ali»o the question to be a!»ked. Put this image at night under your head and sleep upon it. 
That num him^lf will then appear to you spiritually^ and will itmwer your questions, teaching you whatever he can. 
There is, bowevcr, a more certain and better manner. This dispenses with the image, and has recouj:se only to faith 
And imagination. No danger attaches to this experimeni, but it requires great confidence In the validity of the 
operation. 1 have several times had practical evidence of its truth. />.- PkiL'iopkias Tract V. 

t A work of Paracelsus, entitled De Ctrna Dtrw/Ht\ exists in tbc Harleian collection among the MSS- of the Brilbh 
Museum, ft is numbered 508, and is a large volume^ verj* legibly written. No printed copy is knottii !o the present 
editor. 



Conctrning the Nature of Things. 



187 



the stars of Venus ; iron the stars of Mars ; tin the stars of Jupiter ; lead 
the stars of Saturn ; quicksilver the stars of Mcrcur)', As soon» however, as 
they have come to their perfection, and are coag-ulated into a fixed metalUc 
body, their stars withdraw from every one of these, and leave their body 
dead. Hence it follows that all the bodies alike are dead and inefficacious, 
and that the unconquered star of the metals subdues all of them, converts 
them into its own nature, and so makes them all astral. For this reason, our 
gold and silver, which are tinged and prepared with our tincture, are* much 
more noble and more excellent for the composition of medicinal arcana, than 
that gold itself which Nature generates in mines, and afterwards segregates 
from other metals. So also corporal M^rcurius^ made astrally from another 
metal, is much nobler and more fixed than common mercur}% In the same 
way you may judge of other metals. I assert, therefore, that every alchemist 
who has the star of gold, turns all red metals into gold by tingeing them. So by 
the star of silver, all white metals are turned into silver ; by the star of 
copper, into copper ; by the star of quicksilver, into corporal Mercury' ; and 
so with the others. How all these stars are prepared by SpagjTic art, it is no 
part of our present purpose to declare. The explanation belongs to the book 
on the Transmutation of Metals. 

So far as relates to the true signs of these, I would have you know that 
our red tincture, which contains wuthin itself the stars of gold, is of a sub- 
stance fixed above all consistency, of most rapid penetration, and deepest 
redness, its powder recalling the colour of the safTron, and its entire body that 
of the ruby. Its tincture is fusible as resin, clear as crystal, brittle as glass, 
but very heavy in weight. 

The wliite tincture, which contains the stars of Luna, is, in the same way, 
of fixed substance, of changeless increment, of consummate whiteness, fluid 
as resin, clear as crystal, brittle as glass, in weight like the adamant. The 
star of copper is of supreme citrine colour, like emerald, fusible as resin, and 
much heavier than its own metal. 

The star of tin is whitcflowing as resin, somewhat dark, and suffused with 
a clay like colour. The star of iron is of remarkable redness, clear as 
granatum, fusible as resin, brittle as glass, of fixed substance, and much 
heavier than its own metal. The star of lead is like cobalt, black, but trans- 
parent, fluid as resin, brittle as glass, equal to gold in weight, heavier than 
other lead. The star of quicksilver is of a white, glittering colour, like snow^ 
in a deep frost, very subtle, penetrating, and of corrosive sharpness, clear, 
like crystal, easily melted as resin, very cold to the touch, but extremely warm 
within the fire, volatile, moreover, and of a substance which easily flies before fire. 

From this description you will know the stars of the metals, and you 
wUl understand that for the preparation of either tincture, the red or the 
white, you must take at first, not the body of gold or of Luna, but the first 
essence of gold or of Luna. If a mistake is made at the outset, all the sub- 
sequent work and labour will be thrown away. 



1 88 The Hermetic and Alchemical Wriiings of Paracelsus, 

Moreover, this fact applies to metals, that each of them in the fire puts 
forth some peculiar sign by which it can be recog^nised. Among these are, 
sparks, flameSi brightness, colours of the fire, smell, taste, etc. For instance, 
in the reverberation of gold or silver, the genuine sign is a brightness above 
the vessel or vat. When this appears» it is certain that the lead, and other 
accessory metals, have disappeared in the fumes, and so the gold and silver 
are thoroughly purified. Iron, which is completely fused in the furnace, sends 
forth limpid, clear sparks, which rise to a height. As soon as these appear^ 
unless the iron be at once removed from the fire, it will be burnt up like straw. 

In the same way, every earthly body exhibits its own peculiar and distinct 
signs in the fire, whether it has any Mercury, sulphur, or salt, and of which of 
these three principles it has most. If it smokes before it bursts into flame it 
is a sign that it contains more Mercury than sulphur. If, on the other hand, 
it burns with a flame and blazes forth without any smoke, it is a sign that a 
good deal of sulphur, and no Mercury, or very little, lies hidden within it. 
This you see take place with fattj^ substances, as with fat itself, oil, resin, 
and the like. But if without any flame nothing goes forth through the fumes, 
it is a sign that much Mercury and very little sulphur exists therein. This you 
see take place with herbs, flowers, and the like ; and also with other vegetable 
substances and volatile bodies, such as minerals and metals, as yet in their first 
essence, and not yet mixed wnth corporeal sulphur. These send forth only 
smoke, and no flame. 

Minerals and metals which in the fire emit neither fume nor flame— that is, 
neither smoke nor blaze — shew an equal mixture of Mercury and sulphur, and 
a fixity and perfection beyond all consistency. 

Concerning Certain Particular Signs of Natural and Supernatural 

Things. 

We must nowj in due course, speak of some peculiar signs, concerning 
which nothing up to this time has been handed down. In this treatise 
it will be \^ty necessar}^ that you who boast your skill in the science of signa- 
tures, who also wish to be yourselves called signators, should rightly understand 
what we say. In this place we are not going to speak theoretically, but 
practically, and we will put forth our opinion comprised in the fewest possible 
words for your comprehension. 

First of all, know that the signatory art teaches how to give true and 
genuine names to all things. All of these Adam the Protoplast truly and 
entirely understood. So it was that after the Creation he gav^e its own 
proper name to everj^thing, to animals, trees, roots, stones, minerals, metals, 
waters, and the like, as well as to other fruits of the earth, of the water, of 
the air, and of the fire. Whatever names he imposed upon these were ratified 
and confirmed by God. Now these names were based upon a true and intimate 
foundation, not on mere opinion, and were derived from a predestinated know- 
ledge, that is to say, ihe signatorial art. Adam is ihe first signator. 



Concerning^ the Nature of Things. 



189 




Indeed, it cannot be denied that genuine names flow forth from the Hebrew 
language, too, and are bestowed upon each thing according to its nature and 
condition. The names which are given in the Hebrew tongue indicate by their 
mere bestowal the virtue, power, and property of the ver>' thing to which they 
belong. So when we say, ** This is a pig, a horse, a cow, a bear, a dog» a fox, 
a sheep, etc.,'* the name of a pig indicates a foul and impure animah A horse 
indicates a strong and patient animal ; a cow, a voracious and insatiable one ; 
a bear, a strong, victorious, and untamed animal ; a fox, a crafty and cunning 
animal ; a dog, one faithless in its nature ; a sheep, one that is placid and useful, 
hurting no one. Hence it happens that sometimes a man is called a pig on 
account of his sordid and piggish life ; a horse, on account of his endurance, for 
which he is remarkable beyond all else \ a cow, because he is never tired of 
eating and drinking, and his stomach knows no moderation ; a bear, because 
he is bigger and stronger than other people ; a fox, because he is versatile and 
cunning, accommodating himself to all, and not easily offending anybody ; 
a dog, because he is not faithful to anything beyond his own mouth, and shews 
himself unaccommodating and faithless to all; or a sheep, because he hurts 
nobody but himself, and is of more use to anyone else than to himself. 

In the same way many herbs and roots have obtained their names. So 
the euphrasia or herha ocularis is thus called because it cures ailing eyes. The 
sanguinar}' herb is thus named because it is better than all others to stop 
bleeding. The scrofulary [chelidonium minus) is so called because it cures 
the piles better than any other herb. And so with many other herbs, of which 
I could cite a vast number, all of which were named on account of their 
virtue and faculty, as I have shewn more at length in my Herbary. 

Then, again, many herbs and roots got their names, not from any one 
inborn virtue and faculty, but also from their figure, form, and appearance, 
as the Morsus Diaboli, Pentaphyllum, Cynoglossum, Ophioglossum, Hippuris, 
Hepatica, Buglosum, Dentaria, Calcatrippa {consoiida regalis)^ Perforata, 
Satyrion or Orchis, Victorialis, Syderica, Petfoliata, Prunellaj Heliotrope, 
and many others which need not be recounted here, but separately in the 
Herbary, 

The same is true as to the signs of animal matters, because, in like 
manner, from the blood and its circulation, from the urine and the circulation 
thereof, all diseases which lie hid in men are recognised. From the liver of a 
slaughtered animal all its flesh can be judged whether it is fit for food or not. 
For if the liver be not clear and of a red colour, but livid and yellow, rough 
and perforated, it is inferred that the animal was sick and that, on this 
account, its flesh is unwholesome. It is no marvel that the liver indicates this 
by natural signs. The origin of the blood is in the liver, and hence it flows 
forth through the veins over the whole body, and is coagulated into flesh. 
For this reason, from a sickly and ill-affected liver no healthy and fresh blood 
can be produced, just as from morbid blood no wholesome flesh can be 
coagulated. But, nevertheless, even without the liver, the flesh, as well as 



1 



IQO The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

the blood, can be distinguished. If both are sound, they have their true and 
natural colour, which is purple and bright, with no extraneous colour, such as 
yellow or livid. These extraneous colours always indicate sickness and 
disease. 

But, moreover, there are other signs which are worthy of our wonder, 
when, for example, the Archeus is the signator and signifies on the umbilical 
cord of the foetus by means of knots, from which it can be told how many 
children the mother has had or will have. 

The same signator signs the horns of the stag with branches by which its 
age is known. As many branches as the horns have, so many years old is the 
stag. Since there is an addition of a new branch to the horn every year, the 
age of the stag can be set down as twenty or thirty years. 

So, too, the signator marks the horns of the cow with circles from which 
it is known how many calves she has borne. Every circle indicates one calf. 

The same signator thrusts out the first teeth of the horse so that for the 
first seven years its age can be certainly known from its teeth. When the 
horse is first born it has fourteen teeth, of which it sheds two every year, so in 
seven years all of them fall out. For this reason a horse more than seven 
years old can only be judged by one who is very skilled and practised. 

The same signator marks the beak and talons of a bird with particular 
signs, so that every practised fowler can judge its age from these. 

The same signator marks the tongues of pigs with blisters, by which their 
impurity can be known. If the tongue is foul, so is the whole body. 

The same signator marks the clouds with different colours, whereby the 
tempests of the sky can be prognosticated. 

So also he signs the circle of the moon with distinct colours, each one of 
which has its own special interpretation. Redness generally indicates coming 
wind ; greenness or blackness, rain. The two mixed, wind with rain. At sea 
this is a sign which generally portends tempests and storms. Brightness and 
clear whiteness are a good sign, especially on the ocean. For the most part 
they presage quiet and serene weather. 

So far we have confined our remarks to natural signs. With regard to 
supernatural signs this is a matter of special science and experience, as 
Magical Astronomy and the like.* 

Now here it is most necessary to have certain knowledge. Hence proceed 
many arts, such as geomancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, chaomancy, and 

* Whatsoever Nature generates is formed according to the essence of the virtues, which is to be understood as 
follows : According to the soul, the property, and the nature of any man, the body is constituted. For this proverb b 
often quoted— the more distorted the more wicked. Adam wsis originally created in such a manner that he was 
without inherent vice of body or soul ; but when he distinguished between good and evil, Natiur then commenced to 
mark each person according to his constitution. Adam was well pleasing to God before he knew good and evil ; but 
afterwards, God repented haWng made man. Man was therefore made subject to the rule of Nature, so that Nature 
treau him even as a flower of the field, which she marks, and so nuikes recognisable to all. Man also is marked like a 
flower of the field, so that one person can be discerned from another, after the same way that flowers and all growing 
things are distinguished each from each. And since there is nothing hidden in man but must be revealed, this must be 
made known by three different methods— either by the signs of Nature, or the proper mark, or by the judgment of 
Cod. Omitting the two latter, I will speak of the first, that is to syiy, the signs which are exhibited by Natim:. It i» 




Concerning the Nature of Things. 

necromancy, each of which has its own particular stars, and these stars sign 
in a supernatural manner.* The stars of geomancy sign or impress their marks 
on the terrestrial bodies of the whole world in many and various ways. They 
change the earth, produce earthquakes and landslips, make hills and valleys, 
bring forth many new growths, produce gamahei on nude figures and images 
having remarkable powers and potencies, which they receive from the seven 
planets, just as the shield or target receives the pellet or the dart from a 
slinger. But to know how these signs and images of the gamahei may be 
distinguished one from the other, and what they signify in magic, requires 
great experience and knowledge of Nature, nor can it be in any way perfectly 
dealt with here. But this must be noticed, that ever>' stone or gamaheus pos- 
sesses only the power and properties of one planet, and so can be endowed only 
by that one planet. And though, indeed, two or more planets may be conjoined 
in earthly bodies, as in the higher firmament, nevertheless, one is oppressed 
by the other. For as one house cannot have two masters, but the one thrusts 
out the other, so is it here also. One remains master j the other becomes a 
slave. Or as when one is keeping a house another comes upon him, thrusts 
him out by force, and makes himself master, arranging ajl things by his will 
and pleasure, while the other is reduced to slavery, so also one star expels the 
other, one planet the other, one ascendant the other, one influence another, 

knoii'ii to ail iLhal if a ^attA. be cast into the earth and concealed therein, the iatent nature of thiii seed, u the proper 
time, manifcfriii it Above the earth, and anyone may sec clearly what manner of »eed bos lain in that place. It i& the 
same with the heart (r^r) and seed <A mjtn : out of that seed Nature produces a body lo tliAt anyone can see what kind 
of heart has been there. And, although there be a j^reat dilTcrerLce betiA-een herb« or trees and men, yet art in man 
sufficiently dctnonstralc* and proves tbo«e things. We men In this world explore all things ubich lie hidden tn the 
mountains by mean^ of tracer, and external sign** For we investigate the properties of all Lcrbs and stones by their 
»||pied sign {^signHfH st'gnntuw). Similarly^ nothing can lie hidden in man which is not outwardly marked on him, 
for, OS the physician has hi» own knowledge^ so, also, the aitronoraer explores from the signed (tjt ti^attf). So now 
then are tbrce things by which the nature of man and of evcr>'tbing that grows i« revealed t Chiromancy, which 
coDcemt the cxtrerailies^ »,%, for example, the hnndt, the feet, the veins, the lines^ and tlie wrinkles ; Physiognomy, 
whicb regards the constitution of the face and the parts belonging to the head ; Proportion, which considers the 
condition of the whole body. These three should be combined : according to these three every created thing can be 
Tcco^ised : by the physician, that i» to iay, the remedy ; by the astronomer, that is, the man ; and by the metallurgist, 
that ist tbe metal. Such \m the condition of the mother which manifests that which is latent in anything. He who is 
incapable of understanding these three things cild b« in no sense a natural philosopher, asironomert or doctor, or know 
anything of the arcana and mysteries of Nature. The foundation is in this, that all things have seed, and in seed all 
things are contained, for Nature first fabricatoi (he form, and afterwards she produces itnd numifestt the essence of the 
tbtng. - £x^icnli0 T9tiut Aitr&n^mm, 

• The Libtir fkUosophia^ in a treatise Di Artw Frfuaga, regards the varieties of sortilege discussed in this book from 
a totally different standpoint. The four arts of Geomancy, Hydromancy, Pyromancy, and Necromancy are thus 
noticed : Spirits which are (normally) unable to communicate vi^bly with men, have by lying arts invaded their 
iroaginalion.and have rai*.ed up therein Ceomniicy, Pyromancy, Hydrotnancy, and Necromancy, arts not invented from 
the light of Nature or of men, but instilled hy spirits* who, by their frauds, after they had descried some one or other 
discoverer suitable for iheir puiposes, then added fitting disciples to these, rmmely, cultivators and admirers of tbe 
MttI arts. The first discoverers were obieued by the devil, and sought out through hi» power and instigation arts of 
tbi^kind. There are some, indeed, who, hiding the matter, alTirm that they have been revealed from Cod ; but they are 
deceived, tas God is not the author and teacher of inquiries into the future by means of such devices. He in no wise created 
us that we might devote ourselves to the investigation of what is to comc^ but ordered rather that, directing His attention 
lo Hi* camm.indmenl«, we should seek out the knowledge of H imi^lf and His manifest wilh It is, therefore, a false pretence 
that these arts proceed from God when they emanate from spirits alone. It is, indeed, true that the spirits extracted 
them frum God, not from the devil. But we on the earth derive them from spirits, not from God. Now, communication with 
such spirits is forbidden, though they themtelve* neglect the mandate. It is equally forbidden to the spirits to teach these 
arts, but here, also, they pay no attention to the command. And this is ihe reason why ihcy are silent and tell lie* when 
it is least becoming to do so. Thui, in order that man may act disobediently towards God, and plunge into ^superstitions, 
they have devised the four above-mentioned methods for inquiring into tbe future. Geomancy is the art of pdbts, 
having sixteen signsand figures, which they have arranged according to thetr pro|iefty. To these tbey ndded trni]«i]ationi, 
creta (r'V). form, points, and similar things, and have taught tbe erection of the whole fifrure, fixing; certain rules by 
which each fjjjnn; cmld b« undtTsiool» cicb rccocni***.! in it.'* o^n bcm^. \^ith » ^vifbiriciti .imt neto^or^' inter | retaljoti. 



192 Tfu Hemutic and Alchemical Writings o/ Paracelsus. 

one impression another, and one element another. As water extinguishes fire, 
so one planet strikes out the property of the other and brings in its own. 
And so is it ii^-ith their signs, which are manifold, and not onlj characters, as 
some think, but all those which are found in the entire map of the planets, 
that is, everything which is cognate with those planets or subject to them. 

To make myself more easily understood, let me add an example. To the 
planet Sol there belong the croi^^n, the sceptre, the throne, all the royal power 
and majesty, all the domination, all the riches, treasures, ornaments, and 
paraphernalia of this world. 

To the planet Luna are subject all agriculture, navigation, travelling, and 
travellers, and everjrthing concerned ii-ith matters of this kind. 

To the planet Mars are subject munitions (as they call them), all breast- 
plates, cuirasses, spears, and all arms, with everything relating to war. 

To the planet Mercury are subjected all literary men, all mechanical in- 
struments, and every requirement of art. 

To the planet Jupiter are subject all judgments and laws, the whole 
Levitical order, all ministers of the church, the decorations of temples, orna- 
ments, and whatever else belongs to this class. 

To the planet Venus are subject all things relating to music, musical 
instruments, amatory exercises, loves, debaucheries, etc 

Tbc iBcthod b as follovs : They guide the hand and mark the points until a judgment is made oocKcming the p copo a c d 
matter. But the spirits kn<nr exactly bow many points are required to make a figure which will explain the matter. 
If their direction be right, the figure ako is correct and valid. For example, suppose I ask who is standing at the 
door, and what kind of tunic does he wear ? Take the ie\-en cdcnrs, to each of which aitribctte a geomantic Mgn, 
and consuit that figure. Then.whatever sign falls indicates the o^our. Now. if I knew what colour it were, but you did 
DOC know, I might so direct your hand, forming certain points in one line that, by obliterating or wiping off. there wouM 
remain the oaXcnx red, and supposing the tunic itself was red. then you would reply rightly : It b a red tunic But I knew 
that before, and directed your hand to these points. The sfnrits do likewiie with all the figures ; and. since they know 
all things, it b easy for them to describe the figures and to guide yctir hand. Every rhombtts b described by guiding 
the hand. In dib manner Geomancy b constituted. Moreover, many superstitions are added thereto by men to augment 
it, as, for example, that it should be performed »hen the sky b clear and i«rene. or in the quiet and sOence of night. 
Also, that you should not operate for your own purposes. Again, that you should say such and such a prayer at the 
beginning, and conunence under good auspices, etc All these are humim superstitions : for, not knowing the foundation 
on which the art depends they increase it, but it b as much an art as a superstition. Geomantia, as it was called at 
first, b so constituted that the ascendant b twofold— natural and of spirits. For the natural has its art, namely. 
Astronomy. The spirit has its Pyromancy. Accordingly, if a natirity be constituted out of the stars it b astronomically 
erected. If it be made according to spirits it b Pyromanc>'. But Pj-romancy comists in the spirit being connected 
with the ascendant, and it leads the infant for example, into whoredom, thefts, lies. And as the art comes forward 
and succeeds, the spiriu suggest to astronomers that if a conjunction of thb or that star takes place, say, thb or that 
event will take place, not because Nature herself will accomplish such things, but I myself urill see to it, and, being 
everywhere, will bring about such and such effects ; but as no one can trace my actions, they %k-ill be imputed to the 
stars or the elements. Hence it comes to pass that people pay more attention to the stars than to God. Thb b an 
astute feat of the devil. It b the spiriu who cause the astronomical and other predictions to be fulfilled that the credit 
of the art may be sustained, so that men may be inx'olved in errors and loss, while, intent on vain fantasies, they forget 
the true God. Their devices are favoured by their dupes, for in the case of twenty prophecies, if only one be fulfilled, 
they will never cease from inquiring until the other nineteen lies have been fulfilled also. Meanwhile, they are so 
deluded by the spirits themselves that they cannot arrive at the xxMt/undamentum. For it b the property of ^irits to 
lie. We have finished, then, with the foundation so far as they are concerned. Now one thing b wanting, now another ; 
now the fault lies with the house, now with the exaltation, etc In thb discipline men ha\-e laboured for many thousands 
of years, nor have yet discovered the truth, which, indeed, b impossible to find, as the whole foundation b on falsehood. 
We now see for what reason astronomy b called Pyromancy when the operation proceeds pyromantically. The same 
spirits make their way into the third element, that b, water. For Geomancy has been named from the earth, as if it 
arose from the nature of the earth. Nor without reason, for the earth also has its ou-n hea\*en or stars ; but the spirits 
who are pyromantically recognised have devbcd them. Similarly, in the element of water there b a star wherein the 
pyromantic spirits dwell who have instituted Pyromancy, chiefly in the times of the Greeks, who, being easily led into 
all manner of delusions, promptly subjected themselves to the spirits. Pyromancy is an art consbting of signs and 
figures harmonising with the universal figure of the heaven. The process i« as follows : Take a basin full of water, which 
♦ct down, and notice the direction of the wavy movements as the water quiets down. Notice, also, the tremor, the rest, 



Concerning the Nature of Things, 



193 



To the planet Saturn are subjected all those who work In and under the 
earth, as metallurgists, miners, sextons, well-diggers, with all the tools used 
by them. 

Pyromancy puts forth its signs by the stars of fire ; in common fire by 
sparks, flames, crackling, and so forth ; in mines by coruscations j in the 
firmament by stars, comets, thunder and lightning, nostoch, and the like ; 
among spectres by salamanders, ethnic, and other similar spirits which appear 
in the form of fire* 

Hydromancy gives its signs by the stars of water, by waves, inundations, 
droughts, discolorations, lorindi, new floods, washing away of territory* In 
magic and necromancy by nymphs, visions, and supernatural monsters In the 
waters and the sea. 

Chaomancy exhibits its signs by the stars of the air and the wind, by dis- 
coloration, the loss and destruction of all tender and subtle things, to which 
the wind is opposed, by shaking off and stripping flowers, leaves, fronds, 
stalks. If the stars of chaomancy are excited the Necromicae fall down from the 
upper air, and frequently voices and answers are heard. Trees are plucked 
up from the earth by their roots, and houses are thrown down. Lemurs, 
Penates, Undines, and Sy Ivans are seen. So also Tereniobin, Tronosia, and 
Manna fall upon the trees. 

Necromancy puts forth its signs by the stars of death, which we also 
call Evestra, marking the body of the sick and those about to die with red, 
livid, and purple spots, which are certain signs of death on the third day 
from their appearance. They also sign the hands and fingers of men with 
clay-coloured spots, which arc sure signs of something, good or bad, about 

and the bubbles, The^c four give four figures, and the figures give twelve. Near the figure*, rule* and sucb thingji 
Ajre found. Now^ the spirit moves the bubbles^ originates the shaking, the rest, the calm, According to the necessity of 
the sign, so thill ther« may result a figure which indicates what Ls desired, lliose, therefore, who have well-disposed 
spirits, to whom few things are forbidden, make good sorcerers in the art. On the other hand, a bad sorcerer has a mute 
and mendacious spirit* Among spinu one inay be more mute and lying thao another. When, therefore, one sorcerer 
is sAJd to be more certain th:in another, it does not follow that he has greater skill, for he may possess a more reliable 
spirit. Now, the spirits delight by means of ve,iting and deluding men to cau^e ihcra to hate one another, and this, 
indeed, » their first object. Were the foundatiuci of i\\\9. art more c!o*;ly iiive«tiguled by men, it would be seen that 
it wa4 a hoiuc of the spirits. Vet, even if men arrived at perfection in this art, whnt solid advantage would it 
confer on them b^it a futile prediction and a pretext for wasting time. Suppose I tle^ire to marry, and consult*an'omen as 
10 the result, even if I get an answer I shall lie uncertain of its tnutJi ; it k just a5i likely to speak fal&ely as truly. But i f 
the prediction be fultiUcd, it may be by the devil's arrangement* In any case» how will it help me ? If I escape this evjl, it 
will take shape in another way. Consequently, no faith can be placed in these arts. In addition to the methods 
which have been already mentioned there i* Necromancy, which is the nrt of the air. And although others define diiTer- 
enlly what is meant by Necrv. this is genuine— that it is the art of shades, for shades only are in the air, and these things 
are known by the shades . . , Some people, at night, see figure* in the air» as ill heaven sometimes figures appear 
which have a certain signification. This is Necromancy, Men appear walking in the air, the cb-sh of arms Is heard, etc. 
Wondrous shades arc likewise occasionally visible in water. The cause of all the*e things Is, that the spirits display what 
they wish accordmg to their own pleasure. A part of their deception is to make men fancy that the spirits mitsi be propiti- 
ated by prayers, or compelled by force and con jural ion to produce prodigies. Now, all th^e things are sheer superstition. 
It is alio thought that men can compel spirits, through God, to do this or that ; but it is highly displeasing to Cod that 
urc should be occupied with such trifiings, and the spirits are rejoicing meanwhile that, in oppoisiiion to God, we have 
become their Accomplices The prayers, conjurations, fasts, and other ceremonies arc nothing but a cloak to superstition. 
The pronunciation of various word% is committed to mcmor>', but these are not the rciil names of the spirits, and they 
are altogether unimportant. For although each spirit has his own pcculi.ir name, yet they i^alute one another by dilTerent 
luunes at different times, and so make game of men. Now, concerning the nature of shades, whatever is seen in a figure 
or image is to be considered such. He who is favoured by spirits sees many thingi, but otherwise, little or nothing. 
Did God permit it, these lieings would be a]wa>^ in our midst, enticing us to desert God, and devote our mind to them. 
But if we carefully regard what they have performed during a given year we shall sec that it has been mere triflijig, 
devoid of use and profit, destructive to Ixxiy i^nd soul, health and property, praise and hooourtin a wortl, disgraceful 
allurcmenLs, frauds, and devices, sprung from the root of Lie* itself. 



194 The Hermetk and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

immediately to happen » When the stars of necromancy are moved, then the 
dead give forth miracles and signs, the deceased bleed, dead things are seen, 
voices are heard from graves, tumults and tremblings arise in the charnel-house, 
and the dead appear in the form and dress of the living, are seen in visions, 
mirrors, beryls, stones, and waters under different appearances. Evestrum 
and Tarames give signs by knocking, striking, pounding, falling, throwing, 
and so on, where only a disturbance or sound is heard, but nothing seen. All 
these are sure signs of death, presaging it for him in whose dress the spectres 
appear, or for some one in the place where they are heard. 

Concernmg these signs much more could be set down than has so far 
been said. But since these bring with them bad, hurtful, and dangerous 
phantasies, imaginations, and superstitions, which may be the cause not only 
of misfortune, but even of death, we pass them over in silence. We are for- 
bidden to reveal them, since they belong only to the ancient school and to the 
Divine power. So now we bring this our book to an end.* 

Here end the Nine Books concerning the Nature of Things. 



* In certain cditiotis the following dedScitiod U prefixed to the Nine Books containing the f/ainr*^/ Thim^,-^ 
Theophrastu* ParaccUtis gives greeting to the honourable and prudent gentleman. John WincJceUictn of Friburg, bU 
iaitimaie frtend and dearest brother :— It is nght, intimate friend and dearest brother, that I should satisfy your 
Iriendty and ii^iduous prayers and petitions which you have addressed to ine in your several letters, and since, in your 
latest letters of all^ you have earnestly and courteously requested that I should at length come to you, if it w^^re 
consisstent with my convenience, it U not meet for me to conceal from you, that th[» course ts, by reason of various 
bimlraiices, impostiible. But with regard lo the second requei^t you have made to me, that I should furnish you with 
AH excellent and clear intlructton concerning certain matters, I neither can nor wHll refuse you, but am compelled to 
gratify you therein \ for I am well acquainted with your disposition i moreover, I know that you bear and behold Mth 
delight anything that is fresh or marvellous in this ait. I know, also, that you have devoted a great portion of your 
life to the arts, which have formed the chief clement of your curriculum. Sitice, therefore, )'ou have displayed, not only 
benevolence, but fraternal fidelity towards me, I am rightly powerle^ to forget either your fidelity or your beneHls, but 
am indeed of ncccMity grateful, and, in ca« I Jihould not see you in person again, I must ledve a brotherly farewell 
to you and your*, as a memorial of myself For herein I shall not only answer and clearly explain those points 
Concerning which you have consulted me and nskcd, me in brotherly fashion, but will dedicate lo you a specbd Ireatiiie 
OQ those points, which treatise I shall name Cttne^rnhtg^ ik* Naturt of Things^ and shall divide it into nine books. 
ThU work satisfies all your requests, and, indeed, more than you have requested of me, although you vi ill greatly 
wonder at its matter, and will doubt whether things are just as I have described them. But do not so act, nor think 
that they are mere theories and speculations, wherea^ they are of practice and proceed from experience. And, in spite 
of the fact that 1 have not personally verified them alt, notwithstanding, I both possess, have proved, and know these 
things by expo-ience from and by means of other persons, as also from the light of Nature. Cut if in certain places yoti 
do not righil'y understand what I say, and in one or more processes require of me a further explication, write to me 
secretly, and 1 will put the matter more clearly before you, and give you a sufUclcnt instruction and understanding, 
although 1 do not believe that there will be any need for thi^, but that you will easily comprehend without it, since I 
know how richly you have been endowed by God with the arts and with good sense* Moreover, you know myself and 
my feeling*, wherefore you will easily and quickly take my meaning. But, above all, 1 hope and am confident that you 
will look upon the present work, and will fittingly regard it as a treasure, will by no means publish it, but exclusively 
keep it in great secrecy for ^'ou and for yours, exactly as a vast hidden treasure, noble gem« and precious thing, which 
b not to be cast before swine, that is, before sophists, contemners of natural blessings « arts, and secrets, which person* 
are not worthy to read, much less to have, know, and understand them. And, although this book be very small, 
containing few and scanty words, yet it i* full of many great mysteries for herein I shall not write from speculation 
and theory, but practieally from the light of Nature and experience itself, nor will I burden you and render it tedious 
by much •rpeech, MrHierefore, dearest friend and most intimate brother, !lnce I have addressed this book out of love to 
you alone, and to no one else, I request you to keep the book as a precious and secret thing, and not to part with it 
until your dying day. After death, in similar fashion, command your children and heirs to preserve il lalso in secrecy. 
Furthermore, it is my special request that il should remain only in your family, and at no time become so public as to 
fall into the hiuids of sophists and mockers, who despise all thingi« which do not agree with them, ajid cover them with 
calumny \ who also are pleased only with that which Is their own, as is the ca^: with all fools ; who are ple;u^ed only 
with their own trumpet, but not with that of another ; and do hate all wisdom, regarding that as of small account 
and even as folly, which is grcivtcr than theirs, that Is to say* what is in their own head, because il does iheoi nogoodf 
nofl" do they know the tjse of it. One workman cannot use the tools of another, and so in the same way a fool can use 
no better instrument than his own key, nor U any sound sweeter to hU ear than the tinkling of his own bells* 
Wherefore, dearest friend, be faithfully adnionisl^cJ, as I ha>e entreated you ; do that which I expect of you, so sliall 
you do well and riglitly. Farewell, under the care orilod*~Given at ViWwus^ in the year 'S37' 



THE PARACELSIC METHOD OF EXTRACTING MERCURY 
FROM ALL THE METALS. 



TO extract Mercury from metallic bodies is nothing else but to resolve 
them, or to reduce them into their first matter : that is* running 
Mercur\'» such, in fact, as it was in the centre of the earth before the 
generation of the metals, namely, a damp and viscous vapour, containing 
invisibly within itself natural Mercury and sulphur, the principles of all metals. 
Such Mercury is of unspeakable power and possesses divine secrets. 

The reduction spoken of is made by merctirial water, w^hich w^as not 
known to John of Rupescissa^ or to others, however they may boast. It 
must, therefore, be carefully studied and treated with unwearied assiduity. 
Let the aforesaid mercurial w^ater be thus prepared : — 

Take three pounds of Mercury sublimated seven times by Vitriol, Salt- 
Nitre, and Alum ; one pound and a half of Sal ammoniac, clear and white, 
three times sublimated from salt. Grind these well together, alcoholise them, 
and sublimate in a sublimatory by means of sand for nine hours. When the mass 
has cooled, remove the sublimate with a feather, and sublimate with the rest 
as before. Repeat this operation four times, until it will no longer sublimate, 
and In the bottom there remains a black mass of fluid like wax. Having 
cooled this, take it out ; grind it again, and Imbibe it in a glass dish several 
times w'lth the prepared water of Sal ammoniac. When it is spontaneously 
coagulated, imbibe it again and dry it, repeating this process nine or ten 
times, until it will scarcely coagulate any further. Grind it very small on 
marble in a damp place, and dissolve it into a beautiful oil, which you must 
rectify from all its dregs and residuum by distillation in ashes. Carefully pre- 
serve this w^ater, for it is by far the chief of all waters. Take eight ounces of 
it, and put in it plates of the purest gold or silver carefully cleansed, an ounce 
and a half in weight. Place this In a closed vessel for digestion over hot ashes 
during a period of eight hours. Then you will sec your body at the bottom of 
the vessel transmuted into a subtle vapour or Mercury* Having made a solu- 
tion of the whole mercurial water, separate it, by sublimation in an alembic 
over a slow fire, from its first matter, and keep it carefully in a glass vessel. 
Vou will thus have the true Mercury of the body, the use whereof in desperate 

02 



196 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

cases, provided only it be carefully employed, is marvellous and celestial*; 
and on that account, therefore, not to be revealed to unworthy persons. 

* For example, the red Meroiry of Gold constitutes a good medicament for the cure of wounds and of the plague, 
that is, if it be reduced to a precipitate to prevent vomiting. This is accomplislied by the upward separation of its 
laxative part. For in every preparation of gold the chief point is to remove superfluity from it In the plague there is 
no necessity for purging. Gold, however, is a laxative, a tonic, and an astringent. Take it away ; preserve the rest. 
The medicaments for the plague are divided into those used for the accidentia and those adapted for its cure. Understand 
concerning the cure that the spirits of gold and of gems are the best medicines whereby all plagues, wheresoever located 
in the body, are most successfully healed. The principal is gold ; the second are gems, for gems are tonics and 
preventives. It should at the same time be remembered that all sores are, &% far as possible, to be cured from within. 
For this reason there is no more excellent medicine— speaking of vulnerary potions than is internal Mumia- No 
wound is properly healed from without. Internal Mumia is the perfect curative. Otherwise, there is no more sublime 
incamativc than gold itself —/"r./^wrw/ww/ di FtsU, 



THE SULPHUR OF THE METALS. 



THE Sulphur of the metals is an oiliness extracted from the metals them- 
selves, endowed with very many virtues for the health of man,* Another 
sulphur is drawn from metals before they have undergone the fire, tus 
from the golden and silver marchasites and others, which take rank and exceU 
lence according to the nobility of the mineral. So also is it drawn from the 
mineral of marchasite and cobalt, according to the nature and property of 
each. 

The more common mode of extraction is to take Acetum carefully dis- 
tilled, which has stood for twenty-four hours on a Caput Mortuum made out of 
distilled Vitriol, Salt, Nitre, and Alum, which also has itself been distilled by 
means of an alembic. This, I say, you must pour on the pulverised metallic 
body in a glass vessel so that it shall stand above it by the height of seven 
fingers. Then place it to digest in horse-dung for nine days. The coloured 
Acetum distil in the ashes until it comes to a superfluous oil, which you will 
rectify in a bath, or in the sun. You will then have the ver}- truest Sulphur of 
the metallic body, which you will rightly use at your discretion. 

The extraction can also be made by means of a sharp and thoroughly 
separated lixivium. But other sulphurs are less suitable for the internal bodily 
use on account of the alkali of the ashes, out of which we make a clavellated 
corrosive substance, and also on account of the lime of which such lixivia are 
composed. The Sulphur thus extracted can be washed with sweet water and 
precipitated. The subsequent digestion requires a double space of time. The 
lixivium also ought to be rectified from all earthy deposit by means of sublima- 
tion, so that such sulphurs may not be incorporated with it and become 
corrosive so as to cause injury to sick persons. It is to prevent this that 
the separation spoken of should be made. So far concerning the crude 
materials. 

But now, these having been fused and depurated, you may draw forth 
their sulphur. There is no more certain, noble, or better way than by the 
water of salt or by its oil, prepared in the way 1 have clearly described in my 



* The Sulphur of Met.ils, aitd, indeed, that Sulphur which can also be cxtruetcd from iiiiiirraN, i% ^v\k\ Id Im> nf n|,r( iai 
utility in dropsy, for it is of a dr>'ing nature, and is, as it were, a Aun, or M)lar heat, whidi dispeiMM thin fiiin nf (hr InnI) . 
and causes it to pan* off in vapour. — /->/ Hydrflpni. 



198 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

treatise on Alchemy. Such a water extracts from the ver>' foundations and 
roots their natural liquid out of all metallic bodies, or a sulphur and a crocus 
most excellent for all medicinal as well as alchemical purposes. It resolves 
and breaks every metal changing it from its metallic nature into some other, 
according to the different intention and industr}* of the operator. 



THE CROCUS OF THE METALS, OR THE TINCTURE. 



THE Crocus of the Metals is of four kinds : of the Sun^ of Venus, of Mars, 
and of Chatybs, The best is that of Chalybs. It is extracted by rever- 
beration or by calcination, reducing the aforesaid bodies to dust. In 
like manner, filed iron is consumed by rust. The consumption of the rust is 
made by the imbibition of those things which produce rust, and by a decoction 
extracting the colour of rust. 

Take old Urine poured away from its deposit, several cups of it, in which 
dissolve three handfuls of ground Salt, When you have strained it, boil it 
and skim it carefully. In this again dissolve a handful of bruised Vitrio!, 
with two or three ounces of bruised Sal Ammoniac, and then carefully skim 
again* With this liquid imbibe some filings, and boil until it can be 
pulverised. The dust thus produced reverberate over a powerful fire» 
continually stirring it with an iron rod, until it changes from its own colour to 
another, and at last into the hues of most brilliant violet. From this you can 
easily, with spirits of wine or distilled acetum, draw off the Tincture, and 
when it is extracted by separation of the elements you will collect what 
remains at the bottom of the glass, by means whereof you will be able to 
produce w^ondrous effects, both within and without the body. 

For making the crocus of Venus, take one or two pounds of copper-rust 
carefully akoholised, pour on it plenty of distilled Acetum, and stir it well 
three times ever)" day. Gently pour off the coloured Acetum, and thoroughly 
sublimate it in ashes until it is dry. Let this powder be afterwards washed 
nine times with warm water from al! acridity, and then dried. You will then 
have the prepared Crocus of Venus, or Flower of Brass, from which, if you 
wish, you can easily extract an oil according to the instructions giv^en in the 
great work on Surger}% where also its use is explained. 

The Crocus of the Sun should be extracted by the water of salt, whereby 
the metallic nature, or malleability, is destroyed. When the residuum has 
been washed with warm water, the Crocus can be extracted with spirits of 
wine ; and, this being again separated, the Crocus will remain at the bottom* 
This IS changed into the liquid, or truest quintessence of the Sun, by means of 
elevation, and sublimating with five different grades of fire. With this you 



200 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus. 

can produce man^ellous effects. But there is need not of a merely imaginary, 
but of an active and skilled, operator.* 



* TLc iic^w of Llood from wounds can be stopped by mean^ of the mo&t skilfully rr«-erberated Croca» of Mars.— 
Ckirurgia Magni^ Tract II., c lo. Moreover, the Crocus and Flower of Mercury may be successfully made use of 
for the cure of ulcers.— CA/rv^'a Magna, Pars. III., Lib. V. TLe Crocus of Iron, if it be reduced by the 
reverberatory into alcool, \i suppose 1 tociire the same ulcers that are »ucce&.sfully treated by the Oil of Iron,pro\ided they 
have ceased to flow, and have reached their proper maturity.— Z>r Tumorlbtu et Ptutulis yforbi Galliciy Lib. X- By 
artificer^ and mechanics certain arcana are discovered in the thing^s which they daily use. Thus workers in brass have 
stopped the flow of blood with burnt brass, and have dried flowing «-ounds. Workers in iroo ha^-e used their burnt 
iron, which is called Crocus of Iron, for woimds. Potters also have made some discoveries with what they call sil^-er 
or golden litharge. Many are the inventions of the \-ulgar which have been called experiments ; many more, which 
need not be described here, such as minium, ceruse, and the like, ha\% resulted from the various attempts of the 
alchemists upon various substances. — Ckirurgia Vuinrum^ c. 9. The Crociis or Flower of Copper, which is a^ully 
applied to the cure of corrosive ulcers, is usually prepared in two waj-s, one of which is that the greenness is abstracted 
by means of distilled Botin, and the said Botin is then again extracted. Notwithstanding, the strength of Venus is 
feeble unless vitriol be added to it. But I regard that as vitriol which is extracted firom the body of Venus.— Pr 
Tumor, ft Vicer. Merit Galiici, Lib. X. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF THEOPHRASTUS CONCERNING 
THE GENERATIONS OF THE ELEMENTS,* 



BOOK THE FIRST, 

Concerning the Element op Air, 

TEXT I. 

IN the beginning, Iliaster, which is nothing, was divided, thus giving and 
arranging the four elements*t It was even as the seed from which springs 
the stem. What the seed gives forth it does not receive in the same form 
into itself again. But this Iliaster again attracts to itself the four elements. 
Thus, that is dissolved and becomes what it was before the four elements were 
produced, provided only one year of the %vorld has elapsed* The four elements 
are the growth produced from ihc Iliaster. And the seed does not give those 
very things from which the infant is produced after this year of the world ; but 
the four elements are both mothers and daughters. Of this family nothing 
is found surviving after death ; but its end is the same as its origin ; and so 
whatever is in it perishes at the same time. Although another world follows 
after, which is the daughter of this one in name, still, it is not so in form, 
in essence, or the like. For this will not pass away, but will remain like the 



• The philo4opby of Paracebu* concerning the seneration of the four element* and oono^ninfi the ihree prime 
principlcj, SulphuTt Mercury, and Sail, appears to have been regarded by him^etf and by lili edttor» a* on e^untlal 
pun of hl» doctrine and practice of alche^l}^ To include it iii the first «cction of this translation 14 tty no rncan^ 
ottUide the issues of Ifermetic Chemistry. Paracelniu waa not the first adept who ttj^Anied i)se process in the 
Bocompltslimcnt of the AfAj^Ht/m 0/mt m offering a rigorous analog- with the creation of the greater world. All 
alchemy iml^s on it. He who succeeded in accomplishing the Grand .VlagUterium, the confection of l!)e Phttuaopher^' 
Stone, became initiated thereby into the secret of the Mjfstrriuin MttgHiiim ; and, on the other hand, an e*act 
OOmprehension of the true principles which obtained in the tmiver«al gcnesist was enough to po^esa anyone with a full 
Mid practical illumination conoemlng the arcanum of philosophy. The cj>»mological philosophy of Panu:clsu« 1% the 
tinpffliry complement of his alchemy, and whether or not their combined ttudy b likely to chrow light upon either, an 
opporttiflily most be offered to the student for the comp»ri^>n of the f^o. The trcati^e^ whidt have been wlecled fur the 
pttTpoie are tmulated from tha second volume of the Geneva folio^ and the copious note* which ha%c been added Are 
detived from anala^tu writitiga which ParaceUm left unfiiiished, or which* for some other rea&on, have come down to 
us in an imperfect state. 

t When God determined to form the world atMi deliberated with Hb Divine Prudence concerning ita nature ami ihe 
maniMf of its creation* He divided it into four porti or bodie»^. which he designed to be the mother of all thinp, but 
Sttb|ect to him whom God intended to create after Hh own linage^ even the majt Adaiii, Wberi^ therefore, the matter 
hiod been deliberaterl on and decreed by God, the four said bodies were creaced^thiikt is heaven, earth, wmter, air« For, 
ai the Scriptitre ^th. heaven wajs created hrUt then earth, and »tibac()uenlly the two oiben. Hence ymj mtut know 
that these four bodies, mothers, or matrices, e)(i«t that they may prodtsce fruit, and fiirnikh the ncccaoitie* for man's, 
ftourubinent. Thu»^ for cianipJe, the earth brimcs forth ila peculiar prodticts^ but it i» man and noi the earth who 
iriakes. iwe of them. Similarly, heiiv«n i* a lurlv. free by itself, whence frtiSt^ procectl iiimply fijt the »<« nf man* 



2oa The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

soul, which IS indeed made and created but not mortal. Such is also the lot 
of this world. 

TEXT II. 

Now, it is quite certain that the Eternal Father, who is not only the 
father of His own Son, but also of all things, mortal and immortal, per- 
manent and transitor}^ blessed and damned together, created Domor^ that is, 
heaven and earth, the firmament and the water, to which He also gave His 
own Divine will. We will not further discuss this subject here, but the same 
things can be read in the Paramira.* He formed the natural from the non- 
natural. From that which had never perceived any nature, He pro- 
duced another nature, and following that nature He willed that yet 
another nature should be produced, whilst a year revolves, wherein His 
majesty Himself carries on the Divine rule, which man now moderates and 
possesses. Vet these primal natures differ, so that from the earth springs the 
pear-tree, from the sand the thistle, from the water cachimise, from the sky 
chaos, and from the fire snow. But seeing how wonderful these things are, 
and how unlike they seem to the first source from which they sprang, we 
ought to make it a matter o^ knowledge and of philosophy, that the element 
of water is not water only, but a mineral as well ; that the element of earth is 
not earth only, but a grape as well, and so w ith the rest. For that philosophy 
is vain which gives it out that the earth is an element, indeed, but not a nut, 
or that fire is an element, but not snow, So^ too, those who say that the four 
elements exist in all and everything, advance mere nonsense. 



TEXT III. 

The earth is an element, and whatever is produced from it. So is the 
w^ater and all produced therefrom. So then that is an element which pro- 
duces. And an clement is a mother, and there are four of them, air, fire, 
water, earth. From these four matrices ever}'thing in the whole world is 
produced. And the speech is inconsiderate of those who assert that an 
element is simply endowed with a complexion, warm, dry, cold, moist, or a 
compound of these. All these things are in all these four elements. You can 
understand it thus r the earth is cold and dry, cold and moist, warm and dr}^, 
w^arm and moist. This is how matters stand. Whatever thing which is 
w^arm and dry grows out of the earth, grows out of that which in the earth is 
warm and dr)'. Whatever is or is produced cold and moist, is produced from 
that in the earth which is of a similar nature. So also from fire four com- 
plexions proceed. Snow, for example, from that lo the fire which is 
cold and dry; and lightning from that in the fire which is warm and Aty, It is 
the same with the other two elements. I would have you then, at this point, 
before all to be advised not to determine the elements according to their com* 

^ But more compleldy and copiously in the ireiiise^ an4 frggmcnu of t»atLt«i from «4iicli the cn«ujiis n^es Havc 
been rendered. 



Concerning ike Generations of the Eiements. 



203 



plexions, but according to their formSj that is, what are the four matrices 
which they have within them. The earth is material, clayey, conglutinous. 
Such it is whether it be warm, dr)% cold, or moist. The water is humid, 
sensible, tangible, but not corporeally, not materially. And such is the 
element, whether it be cold or warm. The fire is a firmament, and is the 
element of fire, though it be in one place warm, in another cold. The air is 
a heaven which comprises all things, and is moist, warm, cold, or dry, as shall 
hereafter be set forth, 

TEXT IV, 

Now, in order to advance towards the established principle \vith regard 
to the elements, understand this. The Iliaster w^as originally distributed into 
four parts— the air, which is a heaven embracing all things ; fire, which is a 
firmament producing day and night, cold and heat ; earth, which affords fruits 
of all kinds and a solid foundation for our feet ; and water from w^hence are 
given forth all minerals and half the means of nutriment for living things. 

These nutriments are twofold, one found in air and fire, the other in earth 
and water. The two former nourish us as if spiritually and invisibly ; the 
two latter materially and corporeally. These four elements are divided into 
two classes. One is constituted of air and fire ; the other of earth and water. 
The air sustains fire, the earth water. Air and fire hold w'ater and earth; 
while these tw^o hold air and fire. So then all things were created in due 
order, that the one might support, seek for, and nourish the other. Thus the 
lliastei was divided into one domor^ of which there are two globules, an outer 
and an inner, each enclosed with two elements. 

Beyond is nothing, so far as we know. Within is what we see, and 
touch, and what the light of nature suggests to as. He who created these 
things is not among us, but dwells without us. But He w^ho was begotten 
of Him is amongst us. Still we must not philosophise further concerning the 
four elements than Nature teaches and points the way for us. 

TEXT V. 

In the beginning the body of the four elements was Ibunded with that 
form and amplitude in which the heaven lies extended ; and it was made 
corruptible or perishable so far as the air surroiuids it.^ There was the throne 



*6ut iKTw w^ roust anderstand wbai u tlie nature of tbe tx>dy of heaven. Earth, ik-ater, air have ea£h 
their peculiar bodies^ butt indeed, all the four bodies of the four elements are made of nQiUing. that is, they are 
made only by the Word of God. ThU notbliig, whence i& produced iomcthinc turns into substance and body, 
which bcrijy of all the four elements is di^tingukhed iriiu three %pect^t »o tliai the creative J^At resulted in a tripte 
body^ Thui the earth and the other cIctncntA arc all threefold. At the Mttie Lime, there is such a distinction 
between the elenienr« thai the fuur thiitg* are not one body. The air it one body^ the earth is another, the 
water a third. So also would be hea\xn if the»c four bad a like body, Hul the ei»nU ha^ three I'odiitt, and to also 
have wateff heaven, and Air* and yet a piece of wood iJ^one hoA^* a metal anotberi a stone anutlicr, a sponi;c aootber. 
So also the four ekmeius of UM]ie» are distinct and nepaiAtei as though ipOtneone vi ere lo take lead ;*rkd luakeof it miuluDi, 
Ceru*e, gla.cs. and spirit of Saturn. So thcitt these three specie* are dUtributed tnio four elemBcils^ a peculiar body 
i)cJii>i3 A»s)|iT»ed to each. Tu pfiy metre ey«ict attention to these nuroben, God Himself chose three, and oonstituted 
nil things out of three, and tefMurated all tJiree. For the orif in uf ilii*- number is tiituicdiately fr^tn Gud, llie ]fini.i|»le 



204 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

of God and the centre of His Kingdonit from which centre the world was 
created, but so that it should be something mortal and perishable created by 
God* To rightly understand this you must know that from that centre the 
world arose and was made material. On this seat Christ hung from the cross ; 
on this seat sat the prophets ; it is the footstool of God. Here, therefore, 
material and corporeal things are made God, and His work^ the centre of 
His Kingdom, and His throne. 

It should be known, then, at the outset, and before the philosophy itself 
is unfolded, that God has made the centre of His heaven, and even Himself, 
perishable. For as corporeally He is called the Son, so the world is His 
house. But although it be thus made and created, still we must believe that 
it will not perish as it was produced* Of man the heart will endure : of the 
world the flower will be permanenL 

TEXT VL 

As to the manner in which God created the world, take the following 
account. He originally reduced it to one body, while the elements were 
developing. This body He made up of three ingredients, Mercury, Sulphur, 
and Salt, so that these three should constitute one body. Of these three are 
composed all the things which are, or are produced, in the four elements. 
These three have io themselves the force and the power of all perishable 
things. In them lie hidden the mineral, day, night, heat, cold, the stone, the 
fruit, and ever}'thtng else, even while not yet formed. It is even as with wood 
which is thrown away and is only wood, yet in it are hidden all forms of 
animals, of plants, of instruments, which any one who can carve what else 
would be useless, invents and produces. So the body of Iliaster was a mere 
trunk, but in it lay hidden all herbs, waters, gems, minerals, stones, and chaos 
itself, which things the supreme Creator alone carv^ed and fashioned most 



m the Desty being three. Nowr^ the word aL*o was threefold, and the word is the beginning of beav'eQ and earth and 
of all CTeatures- All things are synlhesijEcd in three, and there U nothing on earth which con^Uts not of and in three, 
and is reduced again into that three. On the one hand, then, it is evident thai each creature can he distributed into 
three, each in its place; butt on the other hand, ^hai they dogmaliie concerning the four things or elements^ to ibe 
effect that each thing constnts of four elements- that h fal^^e; each things however, contains in itself one complexion 
and not more, nor can it have any other dement than that which it receives from iu mother. For iniOance, cver>- herb 
has only one element— that is, of the earlb; every slonc has one element- that is, of the water^ But in addition to 
this it receives a complexion, frigid and humid, frigid and dryt warm and humid^ warm and dry» Yel that is not a 
whole clement, but the clement is the matrixt ai water or earth. For instancei nutn b taken from the slime of the 
earth; but the element U not itHme, it is qulntc5«ence. Yet it again becomes an eletnentt that Is^ it returns to the 
element with the duitinction which suJ^-siste between an elcmejit and flesh. Hence the elements only recur into three, and 
these three arc the prime matter of the elements. However, the fashion of the prime matter of water* earth, air, and 
heaven is diverse, for the number three cctistitutes otity three species in reality, which three make a perfect body^ and 
these same are found b)' art in all bodies of Nalor^. These three arc the lirst matter and have only one name. The 
first matter is as GlkI ; and as in the Deity there are three persons, so here eadi species is separate by itself as to its 
oflice, but the three offices are comprehended under the one name of the first matter* This first matter has been 
distributed by God among four parts or elements. Whatsoever resides in the first matter of the earth is being 
leparated or has been separated into earth. The case is the same with the other elements. So, everything has Icen 
ordained into its predestinated form, earth having been ordained to be earth, with its oince, and so of the rest. So all 
things consist of one body, and yet there are four bodies, and the four elements are all di^lributcd into four bodies, and 
are formed from one matter which ts in itself triple, ha'^-ing been originnlly formed out of the word. The three first 
things are three parts, namely, fire, salt, and ImJsam, All bodies conilht of thcsie three- all element* and all fruits 
thereof. EarUi b threefold in its body— fire, salt and balsam- while that which grows from it is similarly distributed 
into three s[>ecies. The body of a tree is fire, aaltt and balsam, and the things which arc generated from balcam are 



Concerning the Generations of the Elements. 



205 



subtly, having removed and cast away all that was extraneous. First of all 
He produced and separated the air. This being formed, from the remainder 
issued forth the other three elements, fire, water, earth. From these He 
afterwards took away the fire, while the other two remained, and so on in due 
succession. 

TEXT VII. 

The four fields, therefore, having been in this way set apart and separated^ 
there remained also four storehouses for keeping the four elements, namely, 
the hot J the cold, the moist, the dr)% Each of these was far from being un- 
important. First the air was arranged ; afterguards the fire ; then the earth ; 
and, lastly, the water, in the following w^ay : From the air proceeded chaos, 
the throne, the chain, the foundation. From the fire, night and day, the sun 
and the moon. From the earth, trees and herbs, grasses and fruits. From 
the water, minerals and stones. Of these the succession was so arranged 
that from the superfluity w*as continually produced something else. For 
instance, from the Iliaster of the earth beech wood was extracted and the wood 
of apples removed. Each was disposed in its own place ; nothing being 
corrupted or intermixed. In water gold was separated from the rest of the 
metals, and afterwards the others also w^ere removed in turn. In the fire, the 
cold withdrew from the heat, the light from the darkness. In the air, chaos 
was set in order for preserving all things, and for separating earth from 
heaven. These four Iliastri having been created and arranged according to 
elements, that is, according to the matrices of their fruits, the air was prepared 
before all else ; then afterwards the fire. These two were linked together in 
union, Afterw^ards the earth, too, and the water, being separated from the two 
former, were joined in one. These are now conjoined Iliastri. The air is by 
itself, and the fire. In like manner, also, the earth and the water. 



fire, ialt, and baUam. It U the same with ihaac fruits which bave waicr for their mAlrix. It i» Uie ume with h»v«n, of 
w)iich the fruits arc the sun, etc« It la in like manner with snow ajid rain. The art^ therefcrv, of Nature doe« not* 
tiian, te»ch u» bow to extract anything out of fruits except Sre* sait, atid bakam^ « hich al&o j^tt so separated frocn one 
KHOtber by (he force of fire that the fire, kaIi, and bals^un become icponte. Now, fife is also called sulpUiU' ; salt, 
balfn ; atid Uquor^ mercury. 1 1 is necessary, liov^e%«r, that we should have a clear idea what «n dement i». Now^ man 
lias a Ixu-ge body, containing many sul«tance.s. But that which b the man hinuelf^ {larocly, soul and spirit, b a small 
thing. The reason why the body i* called roan is becau!« the man remains hiddeii in the body. So also the cj'c is a 
coDiddcrable port in man. but the force which sees is vcr^' small in respect of the eye. tn likt manner, the earth is 
called an element, whereas it is a rude body, and its true element i^ hidden ihenin, invisibly, like tlie spirit in man. 
Il IS the same with the other dements, which are, indeed, oorporaj, but are yet spirits accordinfi to their nature and 
lubtttance. So oflen, then, as you bear that thb or that proceeds from an eletnent, under>tand that it proceeds from 
the element itself, and not from its body. In man the tongue speaks and does not speak, for the spirit speaks in it, 

whote intimate permixtore and union with the body causes it to he thought that tlie body does everything 

The odour of the boK tree is the spirit of the box tree ; what there U else is its body. The soul of mu^k is in its odour. 
In ooralt the colour is the spirit, Thus^ all fruits* like their demeni^ have spirit as wdl as body^ and the true fruil b 
not teen by th« eyes. V'et there is a certain dtHcrencc hctween the natural and the supernatural spirit, for the first b 
corporeal and material, subsisting in a corporeal body, but the second b altogether destitute of a body. The body of the 
natural spirit b clothed by Nature with another body of its own element- Jiut concerning heaven it b to be noted that 
God has given it the name of firinaincnt. Tlie firmatstent b the h«a\-en aiid its whole substance. Tbe Uiree other 
ekaikemt are included in the fimnamcnt. as the egg in iu shell, By the demonstration of the name which He has given 
to it Cod teaches that He has ciidowed the Brmament with xixi^tt^t tliat it may be as a sure shell, wherein all the 
creatures of Nature are Urmly contained. And, just as the yo!k rem^uns immovable in its plaae, whether the egg be put 
up or down, so b it with heaven. Wherever we dwdl, we live at a high level or a low, and can call oiifsdv«» dweUcfk 
00 high or dwellers below. For a circle has neither summit nor base.->Z,iArr M*t*»rmm^ c. r. 



2o6 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus. 

Thus it was that God made the material centre of His throne, and after- 
wards sundered it in three primal elements, from which constantly emerges 
everything that is born. Without these three, nothing in the four Iliastri can 
grow. But while they grow they are elements, and so, moreover, they lose 
their name of Iliastri and are called elements. 

TEXT VIII. 

These four elements were sundered into their own places and seats, so 
that none of them should be mixed. All these were removed, just as a 
sculptor when making a statue throws away what does not suit the intended 
image. So there are four elements, but only three primary ones ; three in 
the air, three in the fire, three in the earth, and three in the water. Every- 
where there is only a single triad of the primaries, that is, one Mercury in 
all, one Sulphur in all, one Salt in all. Yet they differ in their properties. 
Whatever is growing, herb, leaf, grass, or the like, was relegated to the 
earth. Whatever is mineral withdrew into the water. Whatever is warm, 
cold, day, night, betook itself to the fire. Whatever is air spread itself out 
over chaos. And all these three are one, each in itself. It is just as when 
a stone is divided into four parts, and out of one is made a statue, out of 
another a pitcher, out of a third some other kind of a vessel, and out of 
the fourth a milestone ; yet all are stones, nay, all one stone, though divided 
into four portions. 

Of these Iliastri there are four, and no more ; these being sufficient. So 
God disposed the world in a quaternar}\ He was satisfied with this number, 
though He could have made eight parts. One portion of nutriment He 
conferred on the air, a second on the fire, a third on the earth, a fourth on 
the water. Nowhere was there any deficiency. 

And now it is further necessary that in the course of our philosophising 
we should go on to treat of these four under the name of elements, to tell of 
their possibilities and performances, and to state m what they excel. We 
will begin with the air, and conclude our philosophy with the water, adding 
such explanations as the nature of insensible things requires. 

TEXT IX. 
The element of the air was appointed for no other purpose than to be 
the abode of the other three, each to be conserved, as it were, within its 
close in the following way.* The air encloses in itself every mortal thing, 

* The elements and all that exists are built upon the element of air, even as a house upon its foundations. We 
should philosophise, however, concerning that Which sustains the air. This power is situated in the exterior part of 
the air in which the Triune God dwells, so ruling and sustaining the air that it does not yield, nor is broken. For it is 
impossible that perishable thingii should fall into the sphere of the imperishable. Moreover, it cannot fall, because all 
things tend upwards, nothing downwards, nor is there any bottom or profundity. For the air is so compacted and con* 
firmed in its circle that it can no more be broken or dissolved than the external kingdom can perish till its time arrives, 
when it will collapse inward towards the centre, the air and stars rushing towards the globe of earth, and then the globe 
shall by them be so utterly consumed that not a single ash shall remain. For the manner of this destruction shall be 
such that nothing shall collapse outwardly from the circle, but all inwardly to the centre. And this is the highest secret 
of philosophy— that the circle rushes to the centre because there is no profundity outside. — AHms Libtr Primut 
MeUorum^ De Biemento Aerit, 



Concerning the Generations of the Elements. 



207 



and shuts it off from what is immortali as a wall dhidcs a city from the 
fields. It strengthens the world and keeps it tog-ether, as a dam does a 
marsh. And just as there is nothing in an egg to one who looks at it from 
without, or outside the eggf» which agrees with what is inside, so the sky is a 
shell dividing heaven and earth, just as the egg-shell separates the ^^g, from 
what is outside it. The air, again, is like a skin in which is stored up a 
body, the whole world, to wit, and w^herein the earth is contained and pre- 
served. The air, then, is this sky, a skin, or egg-shell, or wall, or mound, 
beyond which nothing can burst through, and within which nothing can 
break in. Moreover the air is breath, from which all draw their life. This is 
truly air itself, and puts forth the air which nourishes the four elements, and 
at the same time sustains the life of man. Without it none could live- 
Without this no element could advance, no wind could blow, no rain or snow 
could fall, no sun could shine, no summer could flourish, no water could flow, 
no earth could sustain. All this force proceeds from the air, and is attracted 
by the four elements. For as the lungs ever)^ moment inhale air, so does the 
earth, while the water and the fire each do the very same thing. That is a 
palpable error which lays it down that winds are caused by the air. They 
burst in upon us like poison, not as a means of life. The first element brings 
air, but fire gives the winds. 

TEXT X. 

From this same element, too, flows forth a power by which fire is joined 
to the air, so that it may not fall down. Thus it is like a chain which, 
without materiality or visibility, holds together and binds. This it does by 
means of its chaos, which it inserts between the pellicle and the earth. There 
is also a middle space extending from heaven to earth, in which are balanced 
the fire, the earth, and the water. And as the chicken is sustained in the 
c&g" ^►y its albumen without touching the shell, so chaos sustains the globe 
and prevents it from tottering. This chaos is invisible, though it appears of a 
slight green tint. It is an intangible albumen, having the power and property 
of sustaining, so that the earth shall not fall from its position. As the 
chick in its albumen, so this globe of earth and water is balanced in the air. 
As a ship is borne up by the ocean^ so is this globe by the air. It is one vast 
and marvellous albumen which invisibly supports the globe of earth and 
water. It bears up even the firmament itself, which is placed in it as the seed 
of the cucumber is placed in its mucilage. And as every morsel of flesh lies in 
its own liquid, or the generating seed in the sperm, so the stars lie in this 
albumen, and move therein like a bird in its flight. In no other way are they 
borne up than in what is clear from the illustrations which are named. There 
is at least only this difference : that the chaos is unlike the albumen or the 
sperm, in that it is impalpable and extremely subtle. Otherwise, in all its 
powers and energies it corresponds exactly to those things which have been 
enumerated. 



f 

f 
I 

208 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings 0/ Paracelsus. 

TEXT XI. 

While discussing the powers of this element, it should, moreover, be 
pointed out that the air and its chaos and the sky exist in a round form which 
is inherent in them. No one can point out or distinguish what is above or 
what is below. Let us give an example. If it could be brought about that 
one should be shut up within an eggy it would be impossible to know which 
part looked towards the sky and which towards the earth.* The rotundity 
prevents there being any **up" or ** down." So we are prisoned within a 
shell, and do not know which is up and which is down. Walking over the 
whole world, we look up to the sk)-, and everywhere there is height, whilst 
at the same time everywhere there is depth. The cause lies in the rotundity 
of the globe and of the sky, and thus it is natural to every mortal body that 
all things g^ow in a threefold line, and not only man walks, but also trees, 
veins of metal, and springs take this course. As God created the circle of 
the globe and the sky, so he founded also the semicircle, the diameter and the 
meridian — a threefold line — ^and other similar ones. For in heaven and earth, 
in fire and water, are found all lines and all circles. Here, too, are the true 
Geography, Cosmography, and Geometry. By the elementary geography of 
the air are conserved the structures of the air, that is, the sun and moon, all 

I the stars, the trees of the earth, and other things, as the minerals of the 

f water and the rest. Here, too, beyond a doubt, is found the true basis of all 

geometry, where man stands like the straight line looking up to heaven. Of 
this geometry God alone is the artificer, the mason, the geometrician. From 
this line nothing falls away or emerges, be it water, fire, earth, tree, man, 

I beast. All things tend towards this aerial geometry, which God made and 

I graved as a mason does the statues on a tower. 

! TEXT XII. 

I Now, as to the philosophy of the three prime elements, it must be seen 

/ how these flourish in the element of air. Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt are so 

t prepared as the element of air that they constitute the air, and make up that 

■ element. Originally the sky is nothing but white Sulphur coagulated with the 

spirit of Salt and clarified by Mercury, and the hardness of this element is in 
this pellicle and shell thus formed from it. Then, secondly, from the three 
primal parts it is changed into two — one part being air and the other chaos — 
in the following way. The Sulphur resolves itself by the spirit of Salt in the 
liquor of Mercury, which of itself is a liquid distributed from heaven to earth, 
and is the albumen of the heaven, and the mid space. It is clear, a chaos, 
subtle, and diaphanous. All density, dryness, and all its subtle nature, are 

* Air preserves the elements and all creatures, so that they may perust in their coarse and centre. Land and 
sea are the centre of a circle of which the air is the circumference. Earth and wato- constitute one globe, resting on 
nothing, but free on all sides, being encompassed by the element of air, which b like a vast chaos, which oxsaoals that 
which is called heaven by the ij^norant. Within this chaos all creatures are induded and involved. Between the 
circle of the air and the globe of earth and water which is at the centre, a sustaining operation intervenes, which maybe 
compared to the albumen interposed between the shell and yolk of an egg. ^ibid. 



Co7uerning the Gtfierations of the Elements. 209 

resolved, nor is it any longer the same as it was before. Such is the air. 
The third remnant of the three primals has passed into air, thus : If wood is 
burnt it passes into smoke. So this passes into air, remains in its air to the 
end of its elements, and becomes Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt, which are 
substantially consumed and turned into air, just as the wood which becomes 
smoke. It is, in fact, nothing but the smoke of the three primal elements of 
the air. So, then, nothing further arises from the element of air beyond what 
has been mentioned. Many of the ancients and later writers, nay, even some 
now living, ascribe wind to the air, making out its cause to be the mobility of 
the sky. That is all nothing. It never reaches the sky ; and the air is by 
itself, coming forth from its element as smoke from wood. Whoever wishes 
to understand more clearly about it, and what its motion is, let him read 
about the properties of fire, where more is set down than can be here 
comprised. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF 
THE GENERATION OF THE ELEMENTS. 



BOOK THE SECOND. 

CON'CERNING THE ELEMENT OF FlRE. 

TREATISE I. TEXT I. 

WE have spoken thus far concerning the element of air, according to the 
position in which the elements have been arranged. The air is first 
in position ; next to it is the fire. These two constitute and sur- 
round the entire globe.* We shall next philosophise as to what concerns the 
element of fire. 

First of all, from the Iliaster were separated the air and the fire. After- 
wards these two were sundered the one from the other, so that the air 
occupied the first place, as we pointed out in the former book. The next place 
to this the fire occupied. By a process of separation, these two elements, air 
and fire, were divided. From the air were produced the heavens ; from the 
fire came forth the firmament As in the air there is only chaos and nothing 
besides, so, in the element of fire we find nothing but heat and cold, light and 
darkness. But, whatever withdraws from the globe and from the air, is 
sustained in the element of fire. It is not, however, called the element of fire 
because it can only burn, as many have foolishly said. It is not the element 
of fire which burns, but that which burns and is contrar}* to it, is congelation. 
The element of fire is not by its constitution warm and dry ; the cold and the 
moist come from the element of fire. They are quite beside the mark, then, 
who seek the element of fire in the element of earth or of water. Though 
these probably produce something of a warm complexion, still that warmth 
does not constitute the element of fire. This element is not, therefore, called 
an element because it is fire, but rather because in it the whole firmament 
subsists. It is an element from which should proceed day, night, brightness, 
white or red, rain, tempests, winds, and all impressions. It is also the place 
and portion of the four parts of creatures. Therefore it is called an element. 
For as the earth gives heat and cold together, though it be the element of 

* Fire and air constitute the chaos which encircles the globe of earth and water. The two superior elements send 
down their impressions upon the two inferior. Fire is ducposed and digested by God into the stars. - UtW., c, 7. 



Concerning the Gemrations of tlu EUvienU, 



2\ 1 



earth, so is it to be understood also of fire. Yet there is a difference, because 
material fire Is called an element when \l is not really an clement. It is not 
even produced by the element of fire, but It Is like elementary fire in that 
position when it looks towards the sun. So also the water is like the element 
of fire In a place where it rains. Material fire> which we use, is in the four 
elements ; it is called Tristo, and exists in them thus : The element of water 
requires the element of fire for its operation- That fire remains in the element 
of water, and shews itself in steel and in those stones w^here it exists. So is 
it with the air, and so with the other elements. Each has its own Tristo 
within itself, as is demonstrated in the Nature of Things. So, too, the sun 
can shew its element In wood, can kindle and burn It, because it is of the 
same nature as that by which the element of fire moistens the earth w^ith rain. 
As the element of fire moistens the earth, and it is its nature and property to 
do so, it kindles wood also by a mirror in the sun. The material fire is 
brought to the globe just as rain to the earth> Both come from one element 
divided as to their nature. But the fire which is extracted from stones and 
metals has penetrated thither from the sun by means of its own Ares. As the 
earth is nourished by the sun, so is the qw^ element by another. Of the three 
primaries, Salt could not coagulate unless the element oi fire were in it. So 
Mercury could not give a body unless it contained in itself the element of 
water. So neither is Sulphur without its terrestrial quality. The air is 
without material or body, impalpable. Therefore, of itself, like the other 
elements, it cannot give a body ; but it works together with it, as the rest do. 

TEXT 11, 

Having thus far explained the separation of the two elements, fire and 
water, it remains to speak of their order* which is as follows : — Originally 
the distribution of them was made into the sun, the moon, and the other 
stars. Beyond these there is no element of ^t^. Whatever virtue they are 
endowed w*ith beyond this is only trifling. This is more fully shewn in the 
treatise De NaturA, Here it is sufficient to know that this element, the 
firmament, to wit, is nothing but stars. What these produce and send on the 
earth, as snow, rain, wind, hail, cold, heat, night, day, summer, winter, and 
the like ; all these things come from the element of fire, as an infant from its 
mother, or an apple from its tree. 

This element of fire is placed in the element of air. For as the water 

and the earth are comprised in one globe, so the fire and the air are mingled 

in one, neither injuring the body of the other. They move freely in the air, 

not leaning or propped up on any foundation. As birds fly in the air, so the 

sun moves in the sky, that is, in the air. For just as it is appointed that 

man walks on the earth, the bird flies in the air, the fish swims in the water, 

and the gnome lives within the earth, so has it been arranged concerning the 

elements, that one lies still, another flies, one is in this mode, another in that, 

not moving from one seat or place. Every star has its own special orbit, nor 

P2 



2 1 2 The Hernutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

does one collide with another. For as no one man walks exactly like 
another, and yet there is one mode of progress for all, so is it with the stars. 
And as men by Nature are not precisely alike, neither are the stars ; so 
manifold is their nature and condition. On this topic one need not philoso- 
phise more deeply than to say that all these things are arranged and con- 
stituted bv fate. 



JREATISE THE SECOND. 



Concerning the Sun, Light. Darkness, and Night,* 

IN the first treatise It was stated that the prima! Iliaster was furnished 
with all the colours^ and with brightness and splendour all mingled to- 
gether. From thence the four elements were secreted. Herein shall be 
stated in due succession what was added or subjected to the element of fire. 
In the beginning the first element, that is to say, the air, was extracted from 
the Iliaster, and afterwards the element of fire. From this a separation was 
made. First of all the white brightness was drawn out, and therefrom w\as 
made a material body, the sun. Therein is all the white brightness of the 
element of fire, and besides this is no white brightness at all in the whole 
element. The red transparency was also extracted and transferred to the 
stars, that is, to the moon and the other stars, which were distributed into many 
parts. While the white brightness w^as conglobated into one form, the red 
brightness was divided into many parts. Hence now follow day and night. 
For since all the white brightness was coagulated into one globe, it will be 
day wherever that globe is. Where that globe is not, there is no white 
brightness, but it is night and darkness ; for the red brightness transfers no 
light to the white brightness. Moreover, it must also be known that in the 
element of fire two natures exist, a warm and a cold one. Heat is universal 
in the white brightness, cold in the red. .All fire which is warm is in the 
sun, and not in any element besides. All coldness is in the stars ; there is 
none in the sun. Hence it is clear that summer comes from the sun, winter 
and cold from the stars. In the sun is an expulsive heat, in the stars an 
expulsive cold — thus : The sun emits from himself heat to the earth by 
means of his rays. For just as the wind blows from its cave, or as from 
the ground a stalk rises above the earth, so heat goes forth from the sun 
over the globe* 



^ All the clarity which in the element produccit night is 6^^ anil twofolil— white and rcJ. The white n from 
mercury and «iji« the red from pure kulphtir. Thc«c two coloun inhere in the iluve principles by reason of the pre> 
dominant fire in the luhstancc. The siajnc are divided, the red into one port^ the white into the other. The &m i* 
di&tribuied amotii; aII the »tar«t the second into oi\t only. But if the nxli Uic the white, were compacted and digested 
into A Kingle unr, instead of into 40 many, the red splendour would be et^ually great with reference to rtdnns as ii^ the 
white with reference to whiicne&^t. On the other hAnd, were the white «tAr distributed after the manner of the red, 
lliere would be a faint and perpetual daylight. Such a perfect and condensed splendO'ur would tva illuminate the 
esirthf but one weaker and more divided. The uni^-ersal splendour of the mercury hx\ bowevcr* been concentrated 
from the three prime principles into one orb or «ar, which r<?ceiv«» its motion according to the will of the Creator. The 
motion of thb star Lakes place round the globe. When it radiates upon the earth there i» day^ but elsewhere night 
n:ig^n», for aJI the brilliance of day is in it, and without its radiation there is no brilliance upom canh. The red 
briUiauce of the other stars i« the light of the fire in red, aniy in ralphur. where there t^^^ no mcnniry or f>.iU<-'Pr 



514 ^^ Hermetic and Alchemical Writings o/ Paracelsus. 

Heat is the fruit of the sun on the globe, and it has no other fruit. 
Hence it follows that the sun has two operations, a greater and a lesser heat, 
in this way. The sun divides his heat in two modes. Hence it is granted 
to the stars to lose their coldness. The matter stands thus : For us Germans 
if the sun is supreme his heat is greatest with us. Then the autumn and 
harvest are at hand. In winter the cold comes on, not because the sun is 
low and depressed (for it is the same sun which can by his rays shed heat 
everywhere), but because his harvest is not then imminent as in June. All 
fruits are then in a state of repose, and have been harvested. But below 
us, in Ethiopia and other places which verge towards the antarctic pole, 
the sun is warm while with us he is cold, for this reason : because it is 
his harvest-time, but with us the fallow season. This fallow season he 
makes more or less. Everything which has to produce fruit needs rest and 
sleep ; and unless the sun were lying fallow, its heat would be equally 
intense with us in winter as it is in summer. 

In the meantime, while the sun is lying fallow, the harvest and autumn 
of the cold stars are substituted, so that during the whole year there shall be 
no sterility, but fruits shall be constantly produced. Now the snow falls, and 
the north wind blows. Then follow the east and the south winds, which are 
the attendants of the sun. Thus are produced winter and summer, night and 
day, and the whole year. In this way is there transition from one autumn to 
another through the year of the sun and the year of the stars. 

Moreover, on this subject it must be remarked that drj-ness and 
humidity occur thus : Dryness is in heat, that is, in the sun. There is no 
other dryness in the whole element of fire save that which the sun has in 
himself. Moisture is in cold, that is, in the cold stars, which are of red 
brightness. This is the true state of the case. Humidity cannot coexist with 
heat. Heat consumes all moisture and brings back dryness. Coldness never 
coexists with dryness. What is cold is dissolved if heat coagulates itself. 
Thus the element of fire is divided into two. In one is dryness, and this is in 
the sun ; in the other is humidity, and this is in the cold. If coldness some- 
times seems to be dry, the dryness is only as when one sweats in the sun, 
where that moisture is quite foreign. So is that coldness foreign too. It is 
true, indeed, that a humid body on the earth can be dried by the stars, though 
not on account of their dry nature, but on account of their cold nature, 
whereby they are able to coagulate so that a thing seems dried up. Thus 
must their nature be understood as frozen water. Such, too, is the method 
of the sun for rendering moist. By its heat it melts wax, so that it liquefies, 
as does tallow. But what has this to do with the matter ? Nothing. These 
things are only given as illustrations. There is dryness, too, in the stars, for 
instance, snow, hoar-frost, sleet, hail, lightning and the like, as metals and 
stones coming thence. But what is the dryness of snow, which does not last ? 
In what respect is a metal dry which returns to its original matter ? And so 
of the sun. Where is his humidity? It does not last. What is it if, indeed, 



Concerning t/te Generations of the Elements. 



215 



he moistens fal ? No sooner has he withdrawn than it is drj' again. After- 
wards it is no longer moistened. It is the same, too, with fire. It dries wood 
so that it never afterwards grows damp again, that is, so long as it is ashes. 
But what does the star do ? It wets Salpalla so that it never again returns 
to dryness, but always remains moist. The stars moisten the rain, which 
always remains moist, and is never again dried. Wherever it is poured out, 
wherever it breaks forth, it is always moist, always wet. So, that which is 
dry remains in heat ; what is wet, in cold ; dryness never grows wet, and 
moisture never grows dry. In like manner, lime remains lime ; glass, glass ; 
wine, wine, etc. 

But in order that the element oi fire may be more thoroughly understood, 
we will, ill the first place, describe the sun, the account of which is as follows : 
All heat is drawn together and rounded out into Magdalion. The whole 
white light is therein. Thus, then, white light and heat make up Magdalion, 
composed of ignited white Sulphur, congested into one body of noblest 
Mercury, pre-eminent over all the other elements, and coagulated by the 
most subtle spirit of salt. Out of these three the sun exists, so dry and so 
warm that there Is place for no humidity, but it would all be consumed. In 
this way, both the daily raiji and whatever water is poured out by the three 
other elements is consumed by the force of the sun, lest a too copious supply 
of w^ater should cause inundation. So, then, the sun is the death of aqueous 
nature, both of the sea and of the Rhine, Danube, Nile, and Tiber. They are 
consumed by the heat of the sun so that they do not increase in volume. 
Death exists in all things for this very purpose, that they may not increase 
too much but may keep within bounds. So man has his own form of death, 
which is invisible. So dryness has its death, namely, water. So, too, the 
waters have their death, fire ; and it is not true to say, thiit what the fire 
consumes reappears elsewhere. It perishes ejitirely in its own form. 

But the spirit remains, and this the sun consumes. It is the veritable 
death, consuming and taking away the other three elements— alike with man 
on the earth and with the bear in the cave. 

But now to philosophise more about the sun. It regulates its course by 
Divine providence, which decides when and how all things should exist. By 
this it is arranged that the sun going round the globe rounds out its circle for 
the sake of this autumn and harvest of the sun. In this course is nothing but 
day and night, summer and winter, light and darkness ; and the darkness 
which falls upon some lands is intercepted from others in due succession. 
From this impetus and motion no wind is aroused ; but the sun moves and 
proceeds just as a ball is driven along the surface of the earth, without any 
wind arising, or as a ship in the sea, which does not of itself generate any 
wind. So neither does the sun produce wind. It does not grow warm by its 
motion ; for, although the globe should roll on for a hundred years, it w^ould 
not of itself grow warm. If it be warm, it must have been warm before. So 
the sun going upon its course is a globe, and may be compared to birds in its 



2i6 Tlu Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

mode of motion. It even diminishes heat^ that is to say, if it be fallow. But 
its brig-htness remains always and under all circumstances. For Mag"dalion 
is fixed, and will remain from the first point of time to the latest in one shape 
and appearance and one proportion of light, of Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury. 
These have only one year of their fixation, which will endure from the first 
lliastcr to the last Iliaster, wherein the world will be renewed. I say there is 
one year, the year of the sun. In like manner all the stars have fixity. That 
is the year of lire, or the stellar year, yielding place to the time of the year, 
as if to its own daughter. 

But, now, in due course, we must speak of the other stars in which exist 
coldness and red brightnessi as, for instance, in the moon, planets, and the 
rest. In this red brightness is a different kind of rest from that in the sun. 
For the moon has no fallow season, but simply dies and departs. The seed 
only is left there, from which the new moon is born. And the generation is 
of such a nature that it gains its power of increase from the sun. Whatever 
grows does so by force of the sun's heat, and without that heat nothing 
grows at all. When* therefore, the Creator made the moon after such a 
manner as that she should wane and wax, He did it for this purpose, that 
the moon, like seed, should be united with the sun, and should thence acquire 
her power of increase. Thus it is that she increases and comes to fulness, and 
then afterwards wanes. For whatever increases, the same also decreases. 
As man by disease w^astes away and dies, so the decrease of the moon is her 
sickness even to death, wherein she passes away, leaving only her seed behind. 
The moon is, in fact, the phoenix of the firmament, from which, when it dies, 
a new" oxi^ constantly issues forth. So, in like manner, there are other stars, 
and they are made up of the redness of Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt. And 
there is a cold of Sulphur, Mercurj^ and Salt, too, which has its origin in that 
virtue from which the sun, too, received its own. Thus it is that the moon 
has such strong influence over the earth o\\ account of her coldness and her 
humidity. She is superior to all the other stars in this element of the coldness 
of fire. The other stars, too, are composed of these three primal elements ; 
but, still they are divided into many parts. For the cold in the element of 
fire is divided into a thousand essences and natures. Thus, in some stars are 
produced winds circling over the entire globe ; in others, snow, rain, and the 
like, have their origin. In truth, so manifold are they, that manifold natures 
and virtues flow down from them to the earth ; and this could not otherwise 
be the case if there were but o\\^ Magdalion, like the sun, possessing only a 
single nature, heat. Therefore, in the stars there are many cold natures. 
Now, cold produces many more forms of eOBuence than heat. A warm man 
is a healthy man. A cold man is exposed to more misfortunes than tw^enty 
warm ones. Since, therefore, cold has a nature w^hich is contrary and opposed 
to the sun, the element of fire is divided into many stars, so that each virtue 
should exist by itself without the impediment of another nature. From these 
come forth warm winds, warm showers, warm tempests, and the rest, 



Concerning ike Generations of the Elements, 



217 



coruscations* dragons, lanceaB, and the like. Yet, all these are cold fire, 
without ardour. On the other hand, what is warm and burns has its origin 
from accident, as the special chapters demonstrate. An entire section follows 
on the properties of the stars, as to the necessities they produce, and giving* 
what is necessary for a description of their natures. 

Concerning Winds.* 

Through the course of the globe, there are scattered the windy stars which 
continually bring round their autumn and harvest. They surround Zedocli In 
a circle and at the same time embrace the globe above and below. As, there- 
fore, the firmament goes round the globe in Its rotundity, and the round globe 
lies therein, so the stars consist in the circle of Zedoch, and the globes touch 
Zedoch in the midst. Tw*o winds, therefore, proceed to the two sides, and 
separate above and below, that is, one part to the arctic and the other to the 
antarctic pole. These stars are actual stars of the winds, because ihey blow 
upon us annually, and have their own year, which is the year of the whids. 
The other stars of the wintls blow above and below us, not according to the 
year, but sometimes they blow^ and sometimes they do not, and infringe upon 
one region only, wherever that may be. The true stars o\ the winds blow each 
according to its year continually, above and below, across the whole globe, 
and are without hail, without lightning, without frost, without coruscation. 



* Since the mftieorological principles hAV« now been abundaaily ftxpUJnecl imd reoognii>cd, die next Uilog U to 
impart some informauofi oonceming meteoric things generated, or theif generations But h-c witt Hr^t write of the ri^ 
Of gcncfMtun of the wjnd*„ proceeding from their predestined circle!*. There are four parts of the orb and circle of the 
winds \ one looks to the estsx^ another to the west, a ihirj to the south, a fourth to the north. The manner uf I he 
circles is as follows. As in the middle of the firmam^iiat there are placed two elements, earth and water, bjk! the 
eletneni ofaif stands betwecii the clement ot heaven and the lower globe" as, I say* the earth i* placed in the middle, 
«fkd the heaven surrOuDd» it completely, vi tliere proceeds or advnfioes a circle txaAivcrsely on a level iit the middle of 
heaven, earth, and water, similarly surrounding. ... In the «ame way you will further note that heaven gc»e* 
round the world with a certain circle. In this circle iiand the mother of the wiod«, and the places whence arise the 
prcd»tiaatcd winds. If these are about to emerige from that circle, they blow upon the gluhc through the i*lcment of 
air. But while they are airiving at the rotundity of the terrestrial globe and dash upon it^ it b povuble that the wind* 
may be either stirred tip below the globe and impelled luwards those who live below us, or mjiy be driven aliove the 
globe to the dwellers on higher ; or again tnay be divided and driven in either direction through the heights and 
the depths of the globe. Thus the winds are impelled through the air beyond land and tea, and persbl until they 
axe worn out by reai^n of the distance, the way, or the viulent motion^ etc. Each of these four p<u^ ha» a nature 
peculiar and proper to itself, for the oriental part is wann and ^ry^ not being so on account of the »un, vt becatiae it 
iMCupka the eaftt* but becauise such a nature is derived from the three prime principles. Tlierefore, alsto, in the trme 
•Otttb-eatt wind and its satelUtcs no other nature and operation arc perceived than %t arm and dr>\ On the other hand, 
the westt wuid. by the tetllng of Ihe sun. b cold and humid, not bccau!>e it rises from the west (for the completion of the 
e:ut and the we>l ts one and the «ame), but because: the matter of 1 he winds has been created cold and humid in the 
west. From the north blow winds of a cold and dry nature, which they aJ%o impart to tho^e regions, not that the winds 
are so aH'cctcd by the regions, but the regions receive that nature fro«i the winds. The south wind i^ warm and 
huniid^ not l>ecau4e much water is accumulated there, or that moist and bumid ptices abound there, but because such 
U the peculiar nature of ihb wind, and it b imparted to the region that it occupies. For thw b to Ije observed, 
that the winds acquire no property from without^ but are tempered from themselves, and are ivot aifected by their 
regions. The generation*, therefore, of the wind^ flre circular, from their proper uAiure. They atr produced from their 
siars, and the star* are ibcir mothers. Stars of thb kind are imiumemble in the four quarrets From these all the 
wirul» proceed. For although winds are also stirred up by the star* of rain or hail, yet ihe>' are not enumerated with 
the circle at the four cardinals. And since we have already spoken of the place and di^pertiion of the winds, because 
they ftow from the farthest heavea across sea and land, it must now be added that iboAC stars liave the power of 
generating winds, and disposing of them according to their nature aiKl quality. As a tree puts furtli its fruit out of tl« 
internal tiaiure. which consists in wood and tmrTOw, so abo tbe same b to be understood of the stars. But the 
seed of the winds b the fintt matter of the three principles, salt, sulphur, and lH)Uor. These three .\re the mothers 
from which are bom those foetuses which we call wu»ds. In the nortbem i|Uitrtefs tliey ore of a cold and dry 
nature ; in the south, warm and humid ; in the ea&t, warto and dry ; in the west, co^d and humid. For as b the 
nature of the three principles, so are f^eir fn*ft*, Moreoscr, yuu mu^t \,Vl(^v( that the wind> ari*e from their stars Kj* 



2i8 Tfu Hertnetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

There are very many which surround the whole Zedoch, like the Galaxy, and 
over against the Galaxy is Deneas. Concerning the elementary nature of 
these stars it may be said that they are all humid. Antiquity has given to 
these four names which we retain, though not with the ancient interpretation. 
All those stars which are situated at the north throughout the' entire Zedoch 
are called Boreas. Censeturis is dry and cold, yet not altogether dry. It is 
cold and congelated, that is, its humidity is coagulated, whence it appears dry. 
Zephyrus comprises the western stars, all being humid and cold, but not 
congelated. So it is that by comparison with these Boreas is accounted dry, 
on account of its congelation. The other stars in Zedoch, Eurus and Auster, 
are altogether cold. As soon, however, as the winds issue forth from their 
stars, they become warm by the sun whose beams they pass through, and thus 
they are held to be warm, which they are not by their own nature. Eurus is 
accounted dry, but is not so. The sun consumes the humidity which it 
possesses until it comes to that moisture contained within it, which the sun 
cannot take away. Auster is called humid, and is so because the sun does 
not take away so much of its humidity as in the case of Eurus. That is pre- 
vented by the sea, which supplies to the sun sufficient moisture for its 
consumption. So Auster with its humidity bursts forth on us throughout the 
lower and the upper part of the globe. 



rule of time and sexson. For they retain the nature of the three principles. The variations of their strength are in 
proportion to the distance they have travelled . . . Boreas is affected by the summer but not by the winter stars, 
and if it be impregnated with sulphur it produces sulphureous maladies ; if with salr, it dries up and cracks the skin. 
The south wind at its proper season, namely, in spring, is most healthful. These riLsings of tlte winds we are able to 
prove by a terrestrial example. Water boiling in a jar emits a wind ; so do all boiling substances, whether dry or 
humid. Moist coction, as of water, produces a moist wind ; the dry coction which is known to the alchemists occasioa^ 
a dry wind. There is no other generation of the winds than when the three principles are set in motion and driven to 
their work by Vulcan. This action produces wind, and imposes its own nature thereon, whether warm, cold, 
humid, or dry. We must understand that God has constituted a generation of the firmament of such a nature that the 
three principles sliould generate and produce all things in their places to which they were ordained by God, and 
should by their operations tend towards the centre of the earth. Above all things, therefore, it is necessary that the 
three principles should be rightly recognised. These three principles are all of an igneous nature till they arrive at 
their operation, that U, at their ultimate matter. Sulphur is a fire which bums ; salt nitre bums also ; and it is in like 
manner with mercury. Now, fire cooks wind, and in the generation of winds the stars are vials and cucurbites, con- 
taining in themselves meteoric sulphur, mercury, and salt, which operate in these phials by means of our ethereal 
Vulcan. From these ethereal operations ethereal works are produced, such as the winds. . . . From earthly 
examples we understand the operations of the firmament, not, indeed, according to one grade, for as the heaven is 
higher than the earth, so also is it stronger ; and as the heaven has more of clarity than has earth of grossness, 
so much more sublimely graded and intense is its operation. That which is unseen by the eye is judged analogically by 
things which the eye beholds. But you must know that the hour and time of the generation of those winds must be 
fundamentally understood by astronomy and all its branches. If the winds blow, they advance to places suited for 
them. Much concordance produces strong wind. To frequently concord and generate is frequently to excite winds. 
Many species and a strong Vulcan generate mighty and violent winds, which root up trees and demolish houses. For 
the wind is, according to its own nature, as corporeal, and substantial as stone or any matter hurled down from a 
great height. And although a stone is one body and wind is another, yet the latter is capable of great bodily 
destruction, for therein are invbible as well as visible corporeities created by God, diverse in appearance but equal in 
virtue. Concerning the origin of winds it is then to be concluded that they are generated in windy stars above, and by 
the operation of Vulcan they are matured at their proper time, when they dash forth into the centre of the globe, trans* 
forming all obstacles into their own nature and property. As Boreas coagulates, so the south wind dissolves, the 
east preserves, the west putrefies. They perform their operation according to their implanted nature. But if they 
blow at those times when their innate malice is removed from them and modified, they effect nothing of importance. 
Among other things, the wind exercises great force upon the waters of the sea, stirring up tempests, and so 
petletrating through everything that it enters through the depths of the sea into the earth itself, whence it again issues 
through mountains, caverns, etc. In this way tremblings of the earth are generated, although this is not the sole 
cause of such occurrences. Wind has the power of penetrating all stones, all metals, and all things without exception.— 
Liher Meieorum^ c. 5. 



Concerning the Generations of the Elements, 



219 



As to how wind proceeds from the stars* this must be held to be the 
method. As the son pours its heat on the world, so In these stars there is no 
other nature and property except to produce winds, which are decocted from 
Sulphur, Mercun , and Salt, and issue forth according- to Adech. Their wind 
is daily; hourly, blowing gently and peacefully over the whole world. So 
the rcspecti%^e winds must be learnt in the course of our exposition as to the 
other windy stars. 

Concerning the Temtiirate Stars* 
Zedoch, 

The following is the theory concerning the stars in the firmament.* 
Evcr\' star has in it a certain amount of frigidity. This causes winds. 
Cold is the parent of all winds. But the nature of cold is that some 
cold produces winds with rain» some with snow, some with hail and the 
like. The truth is that all winds, intermittent and temporar}f\ proceed 
not from Zcdoch, but are collected from all quarters out of particular stars* 
The mode in which all winds arc generated is as follows:— By means of 
frigidity the stars periodically beget their own vacuum, which is manifold in 



* The philosophy oonceramff the ttan In Uie firnuunenl ami, ^vmnSXyi, csoneermng ih« cdHiAdtuUon of heaven, 
\%. dUcusMid elsewben At greater length by PoraceUuA, jin<l \t% connection wUh the four clciiic (its, »& ToIIomi: Of the 
ttement^ it has been snid thait they are four. Man hns^ need of the^e. But the>' are divided into four complexions, 
which are by no means as the ancientsi have imagined them^ as^ Tor cxanple, that the earth \% cold and dry. Tlii* \% 
VKiihout foundaiian ; certainly in some ptaces it ia cokJ and dr^'. but in others it i^ cold and ivet, while in yet othen it is 
warm and dry. Neverthelesss, it Vk an clemeni, that l$, the muther uf frutu It is called an element, inasmuch as it is 
the mother of these thinffs^ not on account of the complcicion. The ca« is the lame with water. This \s specified to 
be cold and humid. It ought certainty 10 be humid, but not equally cold. At the liAnie time, that humidity is often dry 
and wartn, by reavm of the %irtueu The body itielf, iu it* corporal naturvi i» humid. The earth Is dfy» so that its fruit 
can be corvcetved in it and come forth from it. So, a!«o, the heaven isi not of one complexion, hut of many complexions. 
It \% not fire, but is undentood a» fire, becau^ie tl proceeds Lherefn>m. The fi(re tliereof is at tinie» a w^^ier, at others a 
lire, now^cold, now warm, etc. We must cmisider. therefore, that the elements arc only matrices, nor arc they restricted 
to one complexiotu For, as the offspring ii, so is that which generated and produced it. Thus, a flaxnnnita proceeds 
from a flammula, and soialrum from solairum. Accordingly, hearken concerning the*e ihingv It pcrlaini» to thr: eaiih 
to bear and *u»tatn man and his dwelling-place, as abo rocks, stones, sand», and all groiA-ing things. Hence it 11 cicdir 
that the cirlh is nece^i&arily compact and volid, so as to be capable of bearing them. Consequently it is bard, and 
requires to be cut ajid ploughed, h is, En like manner, exiually neces&ary for water to be moi<»t, so that fishes may 
move ftcid swim through it* which can by no means take place on land. The same ought aUo to produce salt and 
siones. Now, all thc»e lhing^ mu?it be humid in their fir»t matter, and mtist pas* from humidity into a coagulate. 
liut that which is bom from the earth has seed, that \i^^ a dr>' body, such a^ are seeds, roods, trees, etc. For all these 
things are dry and compacted from the first matter. Bui in the fir»l matter of water |here is no compact body, the 
whole being li'iuid. The matrix hereof b from the clcmctit of water. In this clement grow those ultimate matters, the 
pHnciple of which is liquid and humid. The third body is the atr This element bos oeeid of another kind of body, 
which must not be humid like water, or solid like earth. Out of this element whatsoever things sire htvn have 
their ingress in the body of the air, just as the C^ in w^ter. Man has been surrouudcd by an aeriform vehicle that he 
may walk in it, as the fish moves in water. Thus the air also ^mtains all tree* and whatsoever gnows. It U ncccssAr)-, 
tlterefore^ that the air shouki beafihaos; not earth, not water, hut something per>»picuous, duiphanous» imipafpAble, 
invtJiible, so that the palpable and the visible may be inibphered (liieraJly, feuihta) by it, and may be seen ibrtrugh it 
as through glass. Furthermore, the hea%'en is a body of this kind, not humid as the water, not pen^picuous a» air, nor 
iotid as the earth, but one of another ef%ence, so th^t heaven i« not eartliy* but ts yet compact in its essence, not. 
however, with terrene compactness. It is also tenuous and permeable as water, but still Is not water ; it is likewise 
limpid and perspicui^us vk-ithout being air. It Is most comparable to smoke, which is diverse from other budies in 
re^ipect of ci»rporality and substance —that is, ti is not like siune or wood, earth, water, or air, but i* a botty without 
mixture or aOintty with others. It is in like maimer with heaven, and the bodies which are boni therefrom are at once 
bodies and not bodies, compact and not compact, permeable like water, > et not water, perspicuous and impalpable as air. 
yet not air. Such a body is the sun, such is the moon, and such are the other stars. ' Heaven is without complexion and 
the element of Are, and the matrix out of which fire is generated and grows. For as fire has a certain corporality, so 
hav« heaven and the star«, which take their nature and substance from heaven. Consider, therefore, that such corporality 
is derived from heavenn the pectdiar quality thereoT, and the very cletnoit of fue ; and whaLboevcr fire is about to do. 
the wune Ss performed by heaven, wtiencc fire proce««l«. But we mast make inquiry* concerning the colour of heavca» 



220 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracchus. 

character. But as to the winds, the foJ lowing is the received theor)\ The 
stars have their own emunctories^ by means of which they excrete those 
things produced in them to which the emuiictories refer. The duration of the 
wind is as long as that required for the purpose of emptying. The stars 
Zedoch perform this process of emptying every day, and raise up winds in 
the world for moderating the heat of the sun and dispersing the cold in the 
frigid portions of the earth. They mitigate both heat and cold, and are the 
most perfect moderators of summer and of winter alike. When these winds 
do not obviate such a result chaos is frozen just like water. The reason why 
water is frozen is that the winds of Zedoch do not penetrate it. They penetrate 
chaos, and therefore do not allow it to be frozen. There is no other use of 
winds except to mitigate each season of the year, and to moderate their 
excesses, which might otherwise do damage. 

The common nature of all the stars comprised in the sky and the firma- 
ment is that, every day^ nay, every hour and moment ^ they exude. For the 
stars attract to themselves the heat of the sun, just as the fruits of the earth 
absorb the same. The solar heat causes the stars to be resolved from their 



That of earth tends towards black. Whaitsoever b of iunoth«r colour thcFelii belongs to minerA. So water has its own 
colour alike through all thiiig!i. ItA colour* however^ lias no nsune, for it is neither white, nor grey, nor blue, nea 
^reen. nnd yet it can be called al) tbe^e. Earth, too, b really neither black nor purple, and yet up to a certain point it 
corrc^pwndA with borh. The case i.s the «Ame with air, which is pure and pellucid in chaoft, aad yet is tietthcr white, 
n'^ blue, nor citrine, etc.^ while it U ii^till partially assimilated to thejMr. So aUo heaven has ili special colour - like blue, 
like retJ. Jikc grreJit and yet n*?ne of the^^e colours i* present therein oihcrAvise than appiiref)tly>^ For elcroeulary bodies 
are so Tormed a& to have no iterfect ci:>lour b)' which they may be uamed> But the tilings which are produced from them 
hive iljtir di^linct^ detennin.ite coloum, amtl to these names can be given. Tbus, many colouri are produced from ibc 
dccnent^, ajid they are therefore composed of many, even of that nuuibcr which tht:y produce from them^lvcs. From 
the earth proceedl hlue, red, bkcktc:c^» while from water alt colours come forth>and so also from air and heaven. Accord. 
iT^gly, ctjli>un are collected from many into one, heaped together and mixedt and such mixture produces no express,. 
det«fmiTuite,and definile colour. Give heed to an example taken from heaven and ixs fruits. For ye «;e that evcrj'thing 
which grows from the earth has its palpable foot and root .aj« are tree* and hcrlis, etc But the star* are the fruits q^ heaven, 
yet they do not put forth their root*; tn heaven, for they stand immov;ib1e below the heaven, without any support or attach* 
mcnt. Earth and heaven are oppo:iiic in thi* re!*pect- one yields* its fruits with rx>ls, the other without; one tend^ 
upward'** the other downwards, and as fishes rest upon nothiuf*, and, without feet, swim about in the water, *.o in like 
manner, itars swim about in the heaven, that Li, in the bctdy of heaven, preserving tliat order which God has prcscrtlied 
ibera.fiome moving at a bigcr. some at a lowert level, at different distance* ♦ipart, and with a quicker or slower motion. The 
details of this queylion mti«t be referred to astronomers, but thU, at least, should be remembered, that heaven is a body 
which, like water^ is capable of nmtaining a swimming thing, yet it is not water, but dry, while that which float* in it 
is alio d^)^ It \a not strictly swnmming« but has analogy ihercwtch ; it is not going or running, since it \% not effected 
by handv or feci ; it U the miraculous work of God, and an element which conlaiiis and includes, all the rest^ and drives 
tbem in a round or a circle. The star* were born from heaven, and stand (herein a* if they flew like a bird through the 
iiir, according to the order and circle, even a&God has destined and formed tbem to motion. Having been once formed, 
they henceforth remain for ever the same. The trees and fruits of the earth fall and arc re-l)Om, The stars can 
perish opice only^ namely, at the end of the world. \Vhate\'cr cUe is formed in the elements is eaten awtiy by mould, 
motli, and death. It i« only the stars of the celestial heaven which remain in immunity, and yet their fruit.s riseatxl fall, 
as rain, snow, etc. But they have a unique and spccint colour, which is licry. Thus, earth chiefly di^ptaj's greenness, 
though it has also other coluurs^ The sun is peculiar in colour, and if the same be igneous, it i* not after the manner 

of wood, but of an element We must rct>cai concerning fire that it has l>een enumerated as one of the 

elements, but with manifest absurdity. The earth, indeed, eichibita itself as an cJement, water in like manner, aiKl 
so also air* But consider the fourth elemeuu Tbts cannot be fire, for it confers nothing elemental and no fruits upon 
maUt nor does it possess any .ifSnky Vi'ith man^ or vicf vertn, but it has an altogether fatal power, whereby the soul is 
separated from the body. It is, therefore, necesa^ary that heaven should be regarded as the fourth element, for this is 
akin to man, nor can man dispense l herewith , whereas he can dispense with fire and can live without it* The pr^ssibility 
of his di<ipensing with fire shews that it is not an element, but such rather Ls that heaven which brings forth day and 
night, summer and winter, increasing all fruits, and helinng the other elements. The Scripture states that God created 
the heaven and the earth fir^t. In heaven are the other elements, and even as Uie jar is made ready before the wine it 
pressed out, so the clemcul of beavcn is in reality the first element, which we have here named for the fuurth.— Z/Arr 



Cimtertiing the Generations of the Elements, 



221 



frig'idity* This resolution is one and the same with that of a cold stone, 
which exudes on account of the vapour which it has acquired from Mercury, 
Sulphur, and Salt. That vapour exists in all elementated bodies. For as 
man, by natural exercise and the process of excretion , purges the phlegfm 
from his nostrils, so do the stars also and all the elements underg-o these 
excretions. This vapour flows down every day from the stars » and falls on the 
earth- During the day it is consumed by the sun. But by night it glides 
down to the earth before the sun rises^ and is called dew. Through the 
winter, or during a cold autumn, it is frozen, and becomes hoar-frost. This 
is nothing else than the exudation of the stars in the whole firmament, which 
thus falls drop by drop. For as boiling water evaporates upwards towards 
the sky, or sends its dew on high, so the stars send their exudation down- 
wards. 

Concerning Nebul.e, 

Nebula is nothing else but a vapour of this kind, differing from the 
former only in this, that while not yet quite matured, it is excreted by certain 
stars. When it falls to the earth like hoar-frost, it rests on the earth and the 
w*ater, and is like smoke. It cannot be completely resolved into hoar-frost or 
^<^^. A certain part of the vapour passes into dew, the rest into nebula. 
Nebula is imperfect dew which has not yet fully matured. If it is thin it falls 
to the earth and vanishes. But if it is dense, but not yet prepared, it 
descends to a higher region of its own, where it is consumed by the suii» 
If, however, it be mixed with rain-clouds, then rain is produced from it, but 
oi a more subtle kind than other rain. Very often nebula? of this nature 
descend and produce a spell of rainy weather. For if the stars are rainy 
they cannot be resolved into dew, but only into nebula. But if sometimes 
they bring clear weather, the cause is that the nebula, being more subtle 
in its preparation, disappears on the surface of the globe.* 



* Earth IS blacki grou rough, c]aye>', Impure, Hlrty. and noUiIng could be cruder. Waler U more subtle, {mre, t 
and clear, so that the eye can penetrate far into its depths. The air » completely pellucid antl intangible, so per- * 
fectly purified that nothins foreign can be seen in it. Heaven U, however, by far superior to the air, but* thoujgb it 
\s the clearest of all the elements, it is yet a body, which is proved by the fact that its fruits are bodies, such as rain, 
«rtow, hail, the thunderbolt^ etc., for a body can only be geiMrated from a body. Ltut inasmuch as the heaven is more 
subtle than the earth, so arc it^ fruil» in comparison, and not only in stiblkty but in operation. We have said enough 
of the heaven, but there remains something to be imparted concertung the fitars and their risings. The star* bear the 
same rdation lo the *ky a* do trees to earth. But whereas trees have their root* iu the earth, the stars are without 
foundAtion in heaven. The reason is this : trees do not need to be removed from the place where tliey are pbuited^ but 
the Stan must describe their orbit, for which reason they are separated from the heaven, while at the same time they 
are in the heaven. At the same time, they do not remove from their own mansions any more than the tree from its 
garden. Now, so often as there is a new genus among tree*, there is likewise a new genus among stars. The same 
must be understood of herbs and all things that grow on the cartlK GT\>\*ing thingi correspond exactly to the tutmlter 
of influences and stars. Ever>' genus corresponds to its like. But zs, some trees produce pears and others apples^ wa 
some stars yield rain, others snow, hail, etc., and in tiiis fashion is generated whatsoever foils^ from heaven. The 
qualities which arc specialised on earth exist more strongly in the heaven, because that element is superior to earthly 
things. And as the magnet attract* towards itself, so al.>o the stars attract in the heaien. Accorfluj-gly, as certain 
natures on earth are dry and other* humid, so throughout the whole Unnameni some stars are drier than other*. Con- 
cerfUAg ihe operations of the si.ors, they are produced out of congenital properties, and they arise from the three prime 
ptindpteiit* That meteorology is false which makes absurd statements about the heat of the sun. of its motion^ or other 
moclcs of generation, made by attraction from the earth. There is no star which attracts rain, and then again pours 
itdonra. The opetation of rain proceeds from a nature congenitd thereto. Even summer and winter are produced 
from the stars, the sun being supreme among those of the calorific kin^d, whkh arise at the beginning of summer, and 



CONCERNING METALS, MINERALS AND STONES 
FROM THE UPPER REGIONS. 



TEXT I. 
Concerning Metals.* 

1"^ H E metals which come from the upper regions derive their origin from 
the seven planets. But these planets are manifold. There are many 
suns, many moons, many Marses, Mercuries, Jupiters, and Saturns. 
They are only called seven because they produce seven metals, and one kind of 
metal is ascribed to each planet. Those are not planets which the astronomers 
point out ; and they are in error when they assign these to the metals : nor 
are they unanimous among themselves in what they do say. From these seven 
kinds of planets proceed the seven metals, and they are the same in the first 
three, just as in the element of water. The only difference is that in the first 
three they are volatile, not fixed, in their species. In this way the metals 
which are found do not stand the test of the lower metals. Neither, again, do 
the lower. metals stand the test of the superior ones. There is not one and 

are strengthened by their own heat till they reach the supreme grade, when again they gradually fail. Then the 
winter stars rise in their turn, display their own nature, afterwards die out, and are succeeded by another summer. 
The var>'ing cold of winter and the varying heat of summer are occasioned by mutations in the potency of the 
respective stars. The moon is chief among the stars of winter, and is furnished with no small escort. Were the 
summer stars to fail, there would be no summer, for the sun, whether high or low, dispenses an even heat. Unless, 
therefore, the summer stars were to arrive, perpetual winter would prevail. The summer stars, however, derive their 
increment from the sun. So, also, we must not assign a diverse origin to day and night. The day arises from the 
light of the sun, but the night from the light of the moon. The departure of the sun by no means causes night. It is 
the peculiar nature of certain stars to produce darkness, which is so gross that unless the moon interfered with her 
presence, nothing whatever would be visible. Such a course, therefore, has God imposed upon the stars, that, going 
round the whole firmament, they retain their order and continual progress. For lest they sliould cease, or have a 
g<:neral holiday, God has ordained that when some are absent, others are present to fulfil their operations. So the 
nocturnal stars take the place of the receding sun. The bodies of the three prime principles are the cause of those 
bodies whence day and night proceed. The sun is a perspicuous and duiphanous salt, clarified and extracted from 
these principles, being puritied from all obscurity. Its brilliancy has been extracted from the mass of the first 
matter of heaven. And whereas that is a white brilliancy which has been digested into the sun, so has a red into the 
moon and stars. The transparency and perspicuity of the white were extracted in sulphur, salt, and liquor, to make 
the sun thereof. Afterwards the brilliance of the red was put into a body of sulphur. Thus salt is the body of the 
sun, sulphur that of the moon, while liquor is the body of darkness. -/^</., c. 3. 

* Metallic natures also subsist in the element of fire, for as in heaven there are stones, so also there are metals, but 
differentiated beyond all recognition from those of earth. Fiery thunderbolts, with their corruscations, are only 
metals, harder than all iron or steel, fluxible as copper, mixed with colours, and formed like a thunderbolt. Their fall 
is solely owing to some miraculous conjunction of elements, which produces them in bodily form. Many marvellous 
matters are carried up into the heaven and fall down to us. If it were possible for the stars of mercury, salt, and 
sulphur to be joined in a like copulation, several impressions of this kind would fall hourly. But the disposition of 
things is not favour.iLle herein, except in the case of the thunderlx>lt. — De Mit^vris. Lib. I J, 



Concerning the Generations of the Elements. 



223 



the same ductilitj% or fluxibility, or hardness in tlie one as in the other* 
Neither are they uniform in colour ; there is a distinct difference in them. So, 
again, there is a volatile nature of this kind in the element of fire, which is the 
metallic operation and nature of all the seven stars, which also falls down from 
them to the earth at the same time, just like rain and similar e01uxes. Many 
such metals lie under their own stars, some in Asia, a few in Africa, and few^er 
still in Europe. These stars do not reach our earth, so that these meials are not 
found amongst us. All those grains, however, which are among the seven 
metals, and are rough in external appearance, come down from the stars« and 
not from the element of water. And all the metals which are coagulated 
without fire, and are rounded in shape like pulse, of whatever kind they are, 
have come down from the sev^cn stars, ^vhether they lie above them or not ; 
and the earth strikes against them just as rivers do. But where they are 
found is neither their source nor their root, but they come forth just like 
kidneys. Their origin is in the stars, and all have come down from thence. 
For there, in the element of fire, is no rudeness or density to mix itself up. It 
purges itself according to its own stars, and coagulates of itself purely and 
entirely. These metals, just like those in the element of waiter, exist in com- 
mixture with Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, save that the igneous metals have 
not a watery fixation, just as the aqueous metals have not a firmamental 
fixation. 

TEXT 11. 

When, then, the three primals have completed their effect in the metallic 
star— as when, in the star of the sun, a composition has been formed of the 
Mercury of the sun with the solar Sulphur and Salt, then they are digested 
into a perfect metal, by Adech, who shapes therefrom the form of his own gift* 
Then at length the star throws off its efilux, warm and liquefied, as if from 
some furnace. This is shaken in falling, is coagulated in the cold, and lights 
upon the globe. In the same w^ay, also, the star oi the moon makes a compo- 
sition of Mercur)', Sulphur, and Salt. When these are brought to their effect 
(just as in the case of the sun) it casts them forth. The same thing takes place 
with Saturn, Mars, Venus, Mercur}% and Jupiter. It must be remarked, how- 
ever, that out of the seven kinds of the seven stars, each one embraces the 
three primals of one metal ; not as in the element of water, where in one Ares 
the seven are latent. The names of the seven metals, therefore, bear reference 
to the seven metals not of the earth but of the stars In the same way, too, 
many liquids fall down from the stars, being not yet m a state of coagulation* 
If the earth be moistened with these, a brightness rises thence like each i mis, 
talcs, and sometimes marc^ites, though it does not fully and perfectly arise 
from any of these, nor perfectly bears reference to the same. Hence it will be 
inferred that the superior metals excel those of the lower earth by many 
degrees, in goodness, in purity, and in nature, and so in all respects deserve 
greater praise, 



224 '^^^ Hermetic and Alclumical Writings o/ Paracelsus. 

TEXT III. 
Concerning Stones from Above.* 

In the same way there are also other stars which cast forth from them- 
selves gems, granates, and other forms of stones. For Sulphur, Salt, and 
Mercury in the element of fire possess a powerful force for generating gems. 
There are many stars which consist of ruby Sulphur, many of sapphire Salt, 
and many which are powerful in emerald Mercur}-. There are also stars 
which contain the primals of copper, vitriol, salt, or alum. Hence, many of 
this kind appear rainy. If these are prepared they manifest themselves. 
From these stars are generated sapphires of lazurium. There, Salt is the 
body, solidly coagulated with pure Sulphur and with the spirit of Mercur}-. 
In the emerald Mercury is the body, having the nature but not the body of 
copper. It has its colour but not its body from copper. In this way, all the 
colours of gems which proceed from fire are found in proportion to the nature 
and condition of the three primals which are found united in the ratio of 
colours in the metals. For instance, in copper there is redness. But these 
three primals, if they have not a metallic body, become green. So, from 
silver, if the metallic body be wanting, lazurium is produced ; from iron, a red 
body ; from lead, the same ; from Jupiter, a clay-coloured one mixed with 
white ; from gold, a purple body ; from mercur)-, one that is saffron-coloured. 
In like manner, also, if only the Salt predominates, it produces various 
colours, such as are conspicuous in certain stones, purple or blue, either 
lightly or deeply impressed. Equally, too, that which comes only from 
Mercur>' is marked by many colours, saffron, red, etc. That which is from 
Sulphur has for its prevailing colours, white, red, saffron, black, coerulean, 
and so on. These stones are very rare, and those which are of a metallic 
nature are exceedingly precious. Thus, the emerald is a copper stone ; the 
carbuncle or jasper is a golden stone ; the ruby and chalcedony are iron 
stones ; the sapphire lazurius is a silver stone ; the white sapphire is a stone 
of Jupiter; the jacinth is a mercurial stone. After this manner, then, stones 
are generated in their own stars, which closely adjoin the planets, and then 
are ejected, just as metals are ejected, and so are found in theloftiest parts of 
the earth, according to the ratio of their generation. 



• In the height of the firmament stand the three principles from which impressions arise. These are so high and 
so lofty that we cannot behold their form, and yet they have a form. We see, however, the green which is their 
colour. Hence it is gathered that in the element of fire generations of stone also take place. But where stones are 
generated they fall. Although this be considered wonderful, rare, and unheard of, it more frequently happens in the 
'««a than with us. The generations of these stones take place as follows. If the principles of thunderbolts are present, 
any number of thunderbolts may be generated, for with every peal there is a stone. The matter of such stones exists 
first of all in an aerial condition, and is afterwards coagulated into an earthy one, so that the air can retain them no 
longer, and they ultimately fall to the earth. Furthermore, the matter of these stones may collect into one place in the 
absence of any tempest, but it will remain aerial until it comes in contact with a contrary nature, when it will at once 
begin to coagulate and to fall, even as a cloud Is precipitated downward in the form of rain. — ///^. 



Concerning ike Generations of the ElenunU, 225 

TEXT iV. 

Concerning Crystals and Beryls. 

Of cr>'stals and beryls it should be known that they are generated from 
the snowy stars, which produce snow» in the following manner : Fn the snowy 
starSf the power of congelation is so strong that sometimes they are of a 
double nature ; that is, one and the same star contains within it both snow 
and congelation, and so becomes twofold. Now, a star of this nature, which 
has gained at the same time the power of congealing and also of producing 
snoW| easily generates the crj'stal, the citrine, and the beryl. For, if snow 
falls, and frost accompanies it, and, moreover, a place be given to him on the 
globe where Boreas predominates, while the sun or the solar nature does not 
prevail strongly, then the water which is in combination with the snow is 
coagulated into a stone. Now, if this water is caught by an intense frost 
midway, while the snow is falling, stones are formed from it before they fall 
on the globe. Thus, large or small granules are found in proportion as the 
frost has caught the snow in falling. But, if this seizing has not been so 
sudden, the frost collects and drives together all the water contained in the 
snow, which, however, is not itself snow, into one centre towards the bottom 
of the earth, and when it is massed there, coagulates it into ice. This, 
however, does not again liquefy like other frozen bodies, nor is it dissolved, 
and that because it is derived from snow-water. Other waters, it is true, 
which are frozen, are partly snowy, but the snow is dissolved with them. 
Here, this should not take place, but the water is extracted from the snow. 
The fact that the snow remains, happens only through the snowy star, 
wherein, also, the power of congelation subsists, so, that, wherever they meet 
in one place on the earth, the snow is not liquefied, but goes on to the end of 
the intention or operation. In snows of this kind are produced stones, such 
as crystals and the like, pure and dark together, for this reason, because S.S. 
of Mercurj* and Salt have clarified and purified themselves. Very often, too, 
ciystals, berj'ls, and citrines of this sort, are found in places which are not 
snow>^ The reason of this is, that they have been coagulated in the higher 
regions and have fallen down in that form. They are nothing but coagulated 
snow-water. But their shape and species and angularity are bestowed upon 
that in proportion as the Salt in them exists in a subtle or a dense state. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF 
THE GENERATION OF THE ELEMENTS 



BOOK THE THIRD. 

Co%CEMXlSG THE ElEXEVT OF EaRTH. 



TEXT I. 

COXCERXIKG THE EaRTH, PeR SE- 

TO philosophise concerning the element of earth, its matter was first 
made on the following principle : Its three primals were separated, as 
if out of the great Iliaster, from the two primal elements into another 
form and nature, so that in the beginning not only the element of earth, 
but the element of water was segregated, and these were afterwards joined 
together into one globe, which is the centre of the exterior elements. From 
the«^ two elements, first the earth was completed, afterv^ards the water. But 
concerning the earth, it should be known that all the force and nature which 
lay hid in the Great Iliaster for nourishing not only man, but cattle, by means 
of food and other necessaries, were collected into the element of earth, and 
consisted of all trees, herbs, and other growths. But they were so divided 
from the other three elements that this virtue exists in the element of earth 
alone, and not in any other element. Therefore this Iliaster is peculiar to the 
clement of earth so as to afford aliment. For this cause the earth is called, 
and is, an element, because therein consist all the force and power of nourish- 
ing things which are due to living beings. 

TEXT II. 

These three— Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury — are the earth, taken out of 
the great Iliaster, out of that nature which is the element of earth. For 
there the clement and the three others were one Iliaster, in which the four 
elements existed. They were, however, divided one from the other, and the 
Iliaster was divided. Nevermore, then, can the four elements from hence- 
forth be joined or stand together, but each subsists separately by itself in its 
own place. Those, therefore, labour in vain who endeavour to separate the 
four elements, or to seek besides these a fifth essence. 



Concerning the Generations of the Elements. 



227 



From these three primalSi disjoined from the other elements, was the 
matter of the earth produced, in such form as it now is and is seen. And as 
the air was made heaven, the fire, the firmament, the water, the sea, etc, so 
did separation bring- it about that this element should pass into matter and 
end in a globular form^ and that in it should be included all the virtues of 
trees, herbs, fungi, so that from it should be procreated in the world all those 
genera which had been silently sown and had lain hid within it. 

TEXT IIL 

Fn this element of earth was hidden the seed of wood, of roots, of herbs, 
of fungi, and also the force whereby the stem rises, and is formed and planted 
according to the will and pleasure of its cultivator. The seed is here 
invisibly proceeding from the nature of the element, which alone is that seed, 
as the abode and seat of the same» in which it is elaborated and prepared. 
But originally that force is separated into its own genus, so that the two do 
not remain joined in one, but each genus exists solely and separately, one in 
wood, a second in the herb, a third in fungus. Each of these, again, passes 
separately, this into cedar, that into anthos, this, again, into balsam, and that 
into bolin,* Of herbs, too, one passes into meligia, another into a lily with 
thorns — and so with the rest. But in order that this seed may be rightly 
understood according to its distribution, it should be remarked that in the 
separation of the great Aniadus the nature of trees was collected into one 
place, botin into a second, and ebony into a third. So, too, with others. 
Equally, too, the great Aniadus so disposed of herbs that into one portion 
of earth was cast grass, into a second trefoil, and into a third lavendula. 
For so to each land is given its own herb, and its own tree. We should 
pay attention to what has been the distribution made by the Aniadus. 

TEXT IV. 

As to why the Aniadus thus fell among trees so that in one soil should 
be produced the orange, in a second the plum, in a third the fig, and in a 
fourth acorns, the cause may be supposed to have been that the fig and the 
orange require their soil to be of a peculiar kind which should be favourable 
to their increase, just as they also require an appropriate climate. If now the 



* In th« boiin, the pine, ftod the fir, there exUt two kinds of sulphur — ooe poshes away lato coaguUttODi the ocber 
is ftepArated thrrefrom, iind is not coaguUted. From the sulphur which b &uM:cptible of coogulAtion, the woodt of the 
trees Vk prepared, and the same abounds in »alt. It U owing to thU sulphur that wood bunu, aiid it goes on burning «o 
long Ja there \\ sulphur in it. Whatsoever remains is saH^ and this is in the form of ashe&. And that truly is salt which 
the sulphur in trees coagulates into wood, whence rIass is made. For salt is fluid. And this gtaAs is the ultimate matter 
of any salt of wood wbaooever. But the other jsulpbur which i» not susceptible of coagulation gives terebinth* resin of the 
fir and pine^ which inhert^ cbiefiy in the wood, and by rea.son of it* subtlety penetrates through the pores outride the 
bark* either by liquefaction or by a natural resolution. The sulphur which vs in botin u more subtle than the sulphuis of 
the (ir or pine, while that of the pine is more subtle than that of the lir. But iill three are of one generation, proceeding 
from the Aniadas, which i» united through Mcrcurj', The harV is aof htng else but sulphur coagulated afier the manner 
of resin « and it i« educed into this form by the AniaduiL For it b a bard congealed sulphur. And as there is no outside 
in ajiy body without hardness, so is the bark formed fro«n the hardest parU of the sulphur which exists in a growing 
thing. The branches, the shoots, etc.* as also the fruits, proceed, in like manner, from the AntaduSt and derive theix 
cpecial form and character therefrom. This U to be understood also coooemijig other trees.— T?** Bkmmto Ttrwtt^ 
Tr»ctll..Tex I. 

Q2 



228 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

soil be unsuitable and the climate ill-adapted, the one fruit or the other cannot 
emerge, but its seed of necessity perishes and never bursts forth. For though 
it be present there and lie in the earth, it is, nevertheless, dried up by the 
climate and oppressed by the unfavourable constitution of the soil, which is 
varied by the variety of the climate, not by its own nature. For the soil is 
everywhere one ; but variety and change accrue to it from the climate, which 
either encourages or impedes the growths themselves. The sun burns up the 
genus of lilies, or some other genus ; but this rarely happens, for the seed is 
ready, to hand, which Nature produces from the tree or flower. This material 
seed is the cause why the sun cannot burn up the whole genus of this or that 
flower or tree, but allows it to come to a condition of vigour : unless perchance 
it happens that the force of the sun is less than suffices for fertility. Thus in 
the work of planting, herbs and trees are produced which, on account of the 
aforesaid defect in the soil, would not otherwise be forthcoming. 

TEXT V. 

But we must proceed with our philosophy of the earth. The fruits pro- 
ceeding from the element of earth are twofold. The earth either produces them 
of itself or by means of seed. In this way all growths are produced by the 
element out of the soil in two ways ; that is to say, either from the proper seed 
of the soil, or from seed entrusted to the earth. The proper seed is when the 
earth puts forth a herb which springs from itself. Seed that is sown is foreign 
and not proper. Here the gifts of herbs are twofold. Neither spelt, nor 
wheat, nor lily, nor pear-tree, nor anything of this kind, grows spontaneously 
out of the earth, but all have to be sown. Here the philosophy of this treatise 
is deep, to find out whence come those seeds which do not issue from the earth 
itself. If neither spelt nor wheat be sown, none of these things will be pro- 
duced. But herbage and grass do grow. Herbage and grass, therefore, are 
growths of the earth itself, not like apple trees and cherry trees. So there 
remains another philosophy by which we learn whence are produced spelt, 
whence apple trees and pear trees. You must know that the seeds of all these 
growths are propagated from Paradise, sown outside it, then planted and cul- 
tivated far and wide. These fruits of Paradise come to be understood in the 
same way as we understand that Christ was God and yet a mortal man. 

TEXT VI. 

As to the method whereby the seed passes into its shoot, it must be 
known that the seed takes from the earth nothing more than its increment 
and formative power. The other is from Paradise, and is taught in the 
Paramirum.* But as to how much of an element is taken from the earth, 

* Every seed is threefold ; that b, the seed is one, but three substances exbt and grow therein. But even as the 
seed appears one, so are these three to be understood as one only. Every individual thing is united in its seed, and 
not divided, but the same is a conjunction of unity. An illustration may be taken from trees, which have their bark, 
their wood, and their roots, which are distinct in themselves, and yet co-exist in a »ngle seed.— /^omMrfnMW, 
Lib. II., c. X- 



Concerning the Gepurations of the Elements. 



229 



that may be understood from the fact that in the beginning the three primals 
of the earth mix with the seed, so that it lends towards the end destined 
for it, and becomes that which it is before. For the seed is that which is of 
itself, but not yet manifested. Out of this proceeds first the root ; from this, 
afterwards, the stalk. From the root and stalk issue forth the branches. 
From these three burst out the leaves. After this appear the flowers and 
fruits. This shoot or growth is formed by the great Aniadus, and is like a 
man. It has its skin, which is the bark. It has its head and hair, which 
are the root. It has its figure, its signs, its mind, its sense in the stalk, 
the lesion whereof is followed by death. Its leaves and flow^ers and fruit are 
for ornament, as in man hearing, vision, and the power of speech. Gums are 
its excrement, and the parasite is its disease. Philosophise as we will about 
its growth, this is nothing more than its Aniadic nature, which arranges all 
forms and directs them into their essence for which they were created. Its 
death and passing away are the period of its years. A pear-tree will stand 
for ten or twenty years. After that time it dies. Thus a shoot or a tree 
growing in the earth dies according to the time appointed for its death. Its 
decay is the element of fire. That is, fire destroys wood, leaves, grass. 
Whatever is left in the field decaying and passing into rottenness is consumed 
by the sun and the movement of the galaxy, so that it is no more left on the 
earth than as though it had never grown there, as happens to wood in the 
fire. Thus are growing things consumed and eaten away so that no relic 
remains, but all are removed like dust. The very remnants are so dispersed 
by a strong wind that not a fragment survives and remains at the expiration 
of a year. 

TEXT VII. 

Since, then, trees, herbs, corn, and vegetables are produced out of the 
earth, the power of this element should before all else be learnt : because 
some growing things are food and aliment, as vegetables and fruits ; others 
are drink, as grapes and berberis ; others purge the body, like turbiih, hellebore, 
and colocynth ; others strengthen it, as cinnamon, carraways, mace ; others 
have their virtue in the root, as parsnip and gentian ; others in the leaves, as 
pot-herbs and cabbage ; others in the flowers, as ox-tongue ; others in the 
fruits, as apples, pears, etc. ; others in the seeds, as pepper, nuts, and the like. 
Now, it is worth while to know how all these things take place. It is the 
Aniadus of the Earth who thus distributes them. The nutrimentat virtues he 
arranges in three parts, the seed, the roots, the extremities. Thus the apple 
is a fruit on the tree because the Aniadus thrusts it forth, and shapes the fruit 
into the form of an apple, or a pear, or a fig, etc. In the nucleus is a species 
of seed, as in wine there is a species of drink. So, then, the Aniadus, before 
man, operates the first preparation, and man directs the second for his own 
convenience. After these, whatever is of a laxative nature degenerates into 
another growth, as into the mountain brook-willow, the rhabarbarus, or 



230 The Hertnetu and Alchemical Writings 0/ Paracelsus. 

hermodactylos. Whatever is of a sweet nature passes into sugar, foenograecum, 
liquorice root and flowers. Hence it is that pears and figs derive their sweet- 
ness, and bees their honey. Bitterness turns to amarissima, warmth to 
pepper and grains of Paradise, coolness into nenuphar and camphor. For 
as in the element of fire everything by itself is divided from another, so also 
the virtue of the element of earth is divided to its own growth. And yet it 
often happens that two or three natures link in a single substance. So in 
cassia there are heat, sweetness, and a laxative nature. In mace there are 
odour, goodness, and strengthening power. Such is the case with many others, 
and yet one does not on that account destroy the other. In the same way the 
power of the element of the earth either makes for health, as in the tare, in 
persica and gamandria : or it is of a consolidating nature, as in the comfrey 
and the red artemisia : or in the odour, as in the lily of the valley and narcis- 
sus : or in its stench, as in the dane-wort. These are all either produced from 
the Aniadus, or distributed for the use of those who live on the earth. In this 
way the mighty gifts are learnt, just as the virtues of the elements which have 
flowed down from the great Iliaster. 



* As out of the element of earth trees pass off into wood, so in the same element there is a certain sulphur which 
can be separated and passes off into food. Of this kind are vegetables and cereals. Dry tmd humid sulphurs are 
united, being the three principles duplicated according to nature and essence. One of these is for use, the other b not. 
Thus the avena is sulphur, but it is not edible. The seed, however, is edible. The non-esile sulphur is first of all 
developed into stalk, etc, and subsequently the esile sulphur is collected into the grains of the cereal.— Z7^ EUmento 
Ttrrm, Tract III., Text I. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF 
THE GENERATION OF THE ELEMENTS. 



»*.- P'f » 



BOOK THE FOURTH. 
Concerning thb Element of Water with its Fruits, 

TEXT h 

CONCERNING the element of water, the first things to be considered are : 
What is its origin, into what divisions it is broken up, and what the 
element is pef se. The element of water is a seed from Yle, bringing 
forth stalks and fruits, that is, water, and its fruits, such as stones and metals 
of various kinds. Concerning the seed of the element of water, it must be 
laid down that it is latent in its workshop, just as seed lies in the soil. From 
this workshop proceed the stalk and its branches and fruits, in this way. Out 
of this seed is produced the stalk, breaking out of the soil into the light, 
whilst it remains tying in the earth. For, as the element of earth bears its 
fruit in the body of chaos, so, in like manner, the earth is a body, which 
sustains growing things such as trees and fruits from the tree of the element 
of water. There is no element but requires a body by which it may be 
sustained. Chaos bears impressions. The element of fire sustains the fruits 
of the earth, the earth bears up the fruits of water, the water those of the 
air. Thus, the fruits of each element are borne by some other element. Now, 
as from the seed of the element issues its tree, so its tree is a flowing stream, 
distributed throughout the whole earth. All things are one tree, with one 
origin, one root, from one stalk. And the streams of the whole globe are the 
branches of this one stalk. All the humour of the whole globe is Abrissach, 
which falls down from the branches of this tree, and pervades all the pores of 
the globe with its distillation. For, as the fragments from the fir-trees fall 
down from above to the earth, so these branches from the water fall down 
into the hollows of the earth. In this way takes place the generation of the 
element of water. AH the water and all its fruits come forth from the element 
of water ; but they are not the element itself. The element itself is never seen 
by any, and yet, nevertheless, there is an element of water. From it emanates 
nothing but water. It is called an element on account of the water and its 
fruits, not on account of its own complexion and quality, just as is the case 
with the other elements. 



232 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

TEXT II. 
But concerning its course and goal, as also its seats and termini, the 
truth is, that the tree has its exit and end of itself, rises and falls, is produced 
and perishes. Thus, all water that flows forth from it is new, not old, and 
was never before seen. For, as the element of water lies in the middle of the 
globe, so, the branches run out from the root in its circuit on all sides towards 
the plains and towards the light. From this root very many branches are 
born. One branch is the Rhine, another the Danube, another the Nile, etc. 
So, there are also smaller branches, all born out of that root which rises from 
the seed, whence proceeds the element of water. And all the stalks belong 
to one tree, which is born of the root along a triple line in the circle of the 
outer firmament of the two elements, fire and air. So, then, the tree is 
distributed by this triple line over the universal globe, tending towards the 
light. So the stalk and its branches grow out from the centre of the globe 
until they reach the two external elements where the line ends. It does not 
go on to its own body, or Yliadum. For, unless the Yliadum were so placed 
in that position, every tree would spring right up to the sky, extending itself 
further outside the earth than from above, where it is fixed in the earth. So, 
neither do the fruits of the element of the earth grow farther than to the 
prescribed limit of the Yliadum, which is the lower chaos of the earth, not 
occupying more of the earth than the height to which growing things rise. 
Chaos, therefore, is twofold. That which is above is the chaos in which fire 
is sustained ; and, unless the Yliadum were opposed, the element of earth 
would extend its fruits to the mid heaven. So, too, the element of water. 
The course and progress of the stalk of the tree is, that it goes on to its 
Yliadum above the plain of the earth, where its height ends. But how far 
it extends since it lies in its Yliadum, this must be sought from philosophy, 
because all the branches reach their Yliadum in the sea, where they all meet. 
For, as there is one root, so is it compelled to reach one summit or canopy, 
which is the sea. The sea itself is of itself neither the stalk nor the tree, but, 
as it were, the canopy of the stalk, which is not first or proximately bom from 
the root, but composed of the branches. Why it is salt, is on account of its 
position and because salt waters flow together into it, as will hereafter be 
shewn where we speak about the subject of salts. The cause of its ebb and 
flow is that all the fruits (or the humours) flow down by night, but by day 
they swell to a height, that is, clissus. And this clissus in water is the same 
as in other fruits, increasing and decreasing, going and returning. 

TEXT III. 

Now, since it is well to know all these things, so their death, that is, 
their consumption, should be understood. Nothing is free from this con- 
sumption. It should be understood, then, that everything, when it comes to 
its Yliadum, is subject to putrefaction and is consumed. Putridity is a kind 
of consumption, and the passing away of that thing to which it appertains. 



Concerning the Generations oj the Elements. 



m 



so that it is consumed just as if it had never existed. This is the operation of 
its nature. As Nature produces things, so does she again remove them. As 
the thing proceeds from nothing, so it returns to nothingness again. Hence 
it is clear that the element of water itself is subject to putrefaction or cor- 
ruption. If it comes to its canopy, that is, to the sea, it grows putrid and 
is consumed of itself, no extraneous agency being accessory thereto, but 
through its own nature and arrangement. As the fire consumes and extin- 
guishes itself, so, in like manner, does the water. This is the way, then, in 
which the tree of the element of water and its branches are distributed. 
What fruits lie hid in it remain to be seen, as also concerning their nature 
and the generation of the outgrowths. The nature and property of this 
element is that some of its fruits it bears within itself, others it casts out, 
and some it altogether throws away. It must also be separately learnt con- 
cerning this in how many modes of nature and essence its effluents and 
streams arise. But in order that all things born of water may be under- 
stood in its death, it should be realised that the branches, but not the fruits, 
pass aivay to their canopies. Concerning the death of fruits it should be said 
that they all flow into Drachum. In that hour they are consumed, as lastly it 
should be understood and held on the subject of Drachum. 

TEXT IV. 

By way of simplifyng any study concerning the origin of fruits, we will 
consider that the following are the fruits o{ the element of water :* — Salts, 
minerals, gems, and stones. There are, therefore^ four kinds of growths out 
of the seed of the element of water, in this way. Sweet water is the stalk, 
Afterw^ards Its nature is manifold in the matrix. One matrix is of salt, one of 
minerals, one of gems, and, lastly, one of stones. t Each of these, again, is 
divided in a different way. For instance, there are three fruits of salt— salt, 
vitriol, and alum. And each of these has many genera ranged under it. 
There are many kinds of salt, many of vitriol, many of alum. J Some are 
metals, some marcasites, some cachimiae. But even these, again, singly, 
admit of more kinds. There are seven metals, nine marcasites, twelve 



* The fruiu or waler are born rrom the vecd of Are». Archeu^t who b the Mporator of the elcmenLs and of atl 
thiugs whidi lie in them« divides one thin^ Tivm the other, and collocates it iuto it^ place. In tl)« vxA of the eleiueiii 
of water Archeui IT move* everything, and ordains it imo its Nedeon, for the Vliodum of the earth, scparatci the 
gertiu of&alt from all other nature*, and in like manner the gem» of tweet water and thingj^ which are of an acid 
<|uaJity« When he ha£ divided these things and educed them into Nedeon, the operation oX Nedcon goe» on into 
Yliodunit tog«th«r with it« maturation to whidi it vk ordain^.— /> EUmfnto Agt*^, *. v. 0t G*H<tHhuM Saiium^ c t * 

t Metakt mlnerab, and stones, while they are all generated out of water, da yet owe their development and per* 
faction to the element of earth. There is a twofold corruption of these MibstAOce«~utie which re«nlt« from a too 
prolonged connection with the foreign etement. and the proper corruption which takes place in their own ekflie/it. eveti 
as the fruit at last passes into putrefaction on \i% own iTtc*—Dt t^atHraiikitt A^mi$^ Ub. 111. 

* For example, the origin of vUrioK as also of alum, li a» foltowv To* a& salt U extracted tclely according to it» 
own essence, «o also are ftep4tratcd vitriol and alum. But the form which is manifested in saJt, even as in vitriol and 
alum^ is known from ihk| that all the fruit* of the element of water are mloerab, and »^tare the nature of metab. 
But from all tho»e things winch arii.e otit of salt»i mmc is more akin to mineral virtue ttum vitriol, because the salts are 
DUunraUt and all minerals lie hidden in one mass and Ares. But vitriol is the ultimate in the separaiioQ of jnincrals. 
It is followed as closely a* possible by the separation of meials| of which Venus is the Ant. Hence viedol adheres 
to the nature of Venu«. It is partly salt and partly mineral. So m every vitriol there U copper, and by rc4i*oij of thi» 



^34 '^^ Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

cachimiae. So in turn every metal by itself is manifold : as fixed gold and 
not fixed, fixed silver and not fixed, and Venus is both copper and zinc. Such 
also is the case with the others. So there is a vast variety of marcasites and 
cachimiae. As to their origin and progress, their autumn and the rest— as, 
for example, their harvest and ingathering — suffice it to say that all the fruits 
proceeding from the element of water are divided into their branches and 
trees. So salt has its own mode of egress, together with sweet waters, 
even to the boundary of its Yliadum. The same is the case with the rest. 
But with regard to their division and separation, all such fruits consist of one 
root, out of which each nature is separately born according to its condition. 
So from one seed is born one tree, and in this the wood, the bark, the fruit, 
the leaves are all separate, yet all are but one tree. So also from one root 
innumerable fruits are produced, but each fruit passes to its own Yliadum 
and triple line, as the founder has arranged. If, therefore, the distribution 
proceeds in this way, from Yle into its own stalk, and fruit is produced after 
its kind, then different things are found proceeding from the element of water 
— on one stalk salt, on a second a mineral, on a third something else. As, 
therefore, in the earth every seed produces its own fruit, so the seed of water 
is the seed of numberless things springing forth from it. Now, if these are 
brought to their Yliadum, and await their autumn-tide, then at length the 
autumn and harvest come for the fruit of every branch, which fruit is in 
itself of this autumn-tide and this generation. 



metallic affinity vitriolic salt is of venereal nature. Copper, in like manner, is combined with vitriol. Indeed, its 
generation instructs us that it is wholly vitriol. At the same time vitriol in itself remains a salt, and derives its body 
from the liquor of the metals. For this reason it acquires a certain fiery quality tmd brilliancy. Alumen, on the other 
hand, by no means has affinity with metals, but is a free salt, consisting solely of acetosity, and having a body which is 
devoid of earthy quality, unlike vitriol, which arises solely from a permixture of metallic bodies. Hence it exhibits a 
similitude Math marcasites and cachimiae, which come forth in the first generation of metals. The medium which unifies 
and conglutinates copper with vitriol is a phlegma.— Z7r EUmentc Aqua^ s. v. De Generibns Salium. 



Here ends the Philosophy of the Generation of Elements. 



APPENDICES. 



i; 

i: 

J; 

t' 



I. 



APPENDIX I . 



[In the Geneva folio of 1658, which is by far the largest, as it is also the 
best, collected edition of the works of Paracelsus, there are many treatises 
included which conspicuously overlap each other ; and further, there are many 
treatises, independent in themselves, which are devoted to precisely the same 
subjects. For example, the Philosophia Sagax occupies, and at equal length, 
a similar ground to the Explwath Totius Asironomicey and the latter js 
substantially identical with another astronomical interpretation included in 
this translation. It is much after the same manner that the Economy 0/ 
Minerals corresponds to the Liber Mineralinmy but, having regard to the 
metallorgical importance which, from the Hermetic standpoint, attaches to 
both these works, it has been thought well to include in an appendix the 
treatise which here follows*] 



A BOOK ABOUT MINERALS. 

f~^ INCE I have considered well beforehand, and come to the resolution of 
^^J writing about minerals in general, all that relates to minerals, and 
everything bearing on the generation and nature of minerals, 1 would 
have you know before all else, that not a few persons have the priority of 
myself in publishing on the origin of minerals. When I read their works, I 
found that they were involved in many errors. As far as one can judge from 
their writings, the}^ have never fully understood what the ultimate matter was. 
Now, if the ultimate matter be not understood, what, pray, will happen to the 
first matter? Whoever can describe the beginning will probably be certain 
about the end and ultimate. What is a theologian who is ignorant of the 
end? What is an astronomer who is full of boasting, indeed, but without 
experience of light ? Since, then, these authors are detected as in a state of 
hallucination about the end, that is, the ultimate matter, how will they be 
more worthy of credit about the beginning? I repudiate their writings and 
their letters; this is not the foundation. But, in order that you may have 
proof positive in a short space as to my possessing much greater dexterity for 
writing about this matter than those my predecessors had, I will first of all 
explain to you the ultimate matter of minerals, so that you may plainly know 
on what basis I treat this subject, and hence may more rightly understand 



238 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writinp 0/ Paracelsus. 

what is the beg^inning. It is necessary that a physician should first be familiar 
with the disease with which he has to deal \ when he knows this^ the method 
of treatment will spontaneously unfold itself, But to know a disease is the 
end, not the beginning. The art resides in the departure, not in the entrance- 
The entrance is dark and dubious ; the issue is evident. In this knowledge 
lies hid, I point out this, therefore* as the foundation, namely^ that every 
matter must be thoroughly known at its commencement, so that it may also 
be more exactly understood for what purpose the matter has been framed. 
Now, if man ought to lay out before himself the works of God, and rlghUy 
use them, it is necessar)^ that they should not be hidden from him ; otherwise 
he will be sure to abuse them. What good is an axe to a person who is 
ig'norant of its purpose ? Let him hand it over to one who knows all about it 
In the same way, whatever God has created ought to be in the hands of a 
man who knows how he ought to employ it. Men should know and learn 
these things, not mere trifles and phantoms conjured up by the devil. 

But when I propose to write about the origin of minerals, I shall do this 
not of myself* hut from my experience, and by means of him from whom I 
myself received it. What I said in my first paragraph, I here repeat, namely, 
that the last must be known before the first, and from the last the first should 
be understood. I make this clear from the example of Christ, who was not 
understood until He sent the Holy Spirit, who, at His coming, revealed all 
things. By Him we understand Christ, though He came after Christ. So, 
from the same ultimate, that is, by the Holy Spirit, we now understand both 
the Father and the Son. 

Now this fits in exactly wdth the philosophy of minerals, because the 
ultimate matter is made up of those things which teach the beginning of their 
mother, or of their birth. From them this birth must be understood. Already 
in other philosophic paragraphs I have named these three substances, Sulphur, 
Salt, and Mercury, as being the principle of all those things w^hich spring from 
four matrices, that is, the four elements. In the generation of minerals it is 
necessarj^ to explain that iron, steel, lead, emerald, sapphire, flint, duelech, 
etc., are nothing else than Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury. Everything produced 
by Nature is frail and corruptible, and it can be ascertained by Art from what 
it has issued forth. And here is a proof from Nature, since those three 
substances just spoken of are in the air, no less than in other things, such as 
fire, balsam, mercury^ etc. If, by the aid of Art you resolve steel, gold, pearls, 
or corals, you will still And Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury. When these are 
extracted by Art, nothing more of that mineral remains, but all is dissolved. 
Seeing, then, that the dissolution of substances reveals particularly what they 
are, and what is in them, you can gather that those things are three, namely, 
Sulphur, Salt, and Mercur>\ These three are the body, and ever^^where there 
is one body and three substances. Concerning these three substances I will 
now begin my teaching, by which you may know that in the ultimate matter 
there are three substances, neither more nor fewer, and out of these three all 




A Book aboul Minerals. 



239 



mtnerals have been formed. Furthermore, how God created Nature shall also 
be stated. On this basis nothing shall be found lacking* 

In the beginning it pleased God to make one element— water — whereinto 
He infused the power of generating minerals, so that they might forthwith 
grow* and thus adapt themselves to human needs. Water, I say, He destined 
for this office, that it should be the Matrix of the Metals^ by means of these 
three substances spoken of— namely, Fire, Salt, and Mercury. In this 
arrangement so much foresight and discrimination were observed that from 
the one element of water were produced metals, gems, stones, and all minerals. 
And though the fruit be unlike its parent, so God willed that each should be 
produced according to its own nature. One is a bird of the air, another a fish 
in the water. And just as these differ one from the other, so do the natures of 
other created things. All these depend on the power of God, who willed that 
His good pleasure should be fulfilled in them. 

Now, it should first of all be realised that the element of water is the 
mother of all minerals, though water itself is utterly unlike these. So also is 
the earth related to wood, though earth is not wood. Nevertheless, wood 
comes from it. In the same way, stone, iron, etc., are from water. Water 
becomes that which of itself it is not* It becomes earth, which it is not. So 
is it necessary for man also to become that which he is not* Whatever is 
destined to pass into its ultimate matter must necessarily differ from its 
beginning. The beginning is of no avail. 

Now, in water is the primal matter, namely, the three first substances. 
Fire, Salt, and Mercur)^ These have certain different natures In them, as 
will hereafter be pointed out. They have metals, they have gems, they have 
stonesi they harv^e flints, and many things of this kind. One is a metal, another 
a stone, another a flint. So in the sky, too, one is snow, another thunder, 
another the rainbow, another lightning. In like manner on earth, too, one 
thing is wood, another a herb, another a flower, and another a fungus. Such 
an artificer has God shewn Himself, the Master of all things, whose works no 
one is able to rival. He alone is in all things. He is the primal matter of all : 
He is the ultimate matter. He is all things. Then, when we come in due 
succession to explain minerals, %ve will, in the ensuing discourse, speak before 
all else concerning the properties of the matrix, that is, the element of water. 
The things whereof I write were supposed by the ancients to spring from the 
earth. Their meaning was good ; but the position was incapable of 
proof. In this point they were defective, as also in the materials for estab> 
lishing that proof. 

The principle, then, was first of all with God, that is, the ultimate matter. 
He reduced this ultimate matter into primal matter. It is just in the same 
way as the fruit, which is to produce other fruit, has seed. The seed is in the 
primal matter. So in the case of minerals, the ultimate matter is reduced to 
the primal, as in the case of seed. The seed here is the element of water. God 
determined that there should be water- Then He conferred upon it, besides 



240 Tht Htnnetic and Akhemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

this nature, that it should produce the ultimate matter, which is in water* 
This water He subjects to special preparation. That which is metallic He 
separates into metals and arrang-es each meta! separately by itself. That 
which belongs to gems He also digested into its own nature. That which is 
stony in like manner. The same is the case with marcasites and other 
species. 

Moreover, if God created time— harvest for the corn and autumn for the 
fmits—He also appointed its own special autumn for the element of water, so 
that there might be a certain harvest and definite autumn for all things. So, 
too, the water is an element, is the matrix, the seed, the root of all minerals. 
The Archeus is he who in Nature disposes and arranges all things therein, so 
that everything may be reduced to the ultimate matter of its nature. From 
Nature man takes these things and reduces them to their ultimate matter* 
That is, where Nature ends man begins. The ultimate matter of Nature is 
the primal matter of man. So, then, by an admirable design, God has 
appointed that the primal matter of Nature should be water, which is soft, 
gentle, and potable. Yet its offspring or fruit is hard, as metals or stones, 
than which nothing is harden The ver>^ hardest, therefore, derives its origin 
from the very softest — the fire from the water — in a way beyond the capacity 
of man to grasp. But when the element of water becomes the matrix of 
minerals, this is not beyond the capacity of Nature. God has produced a 
wonderful offspring from that mother. You judge a man by his mother. 
Every one has his own special feelings and properties, not according to his 
bodily organization, but according to his nature. Thus all metals according 
to their body are water, but according to their special properties they are 
metals, stones, or marcasites. In no other way can reason grasp that these 
things are diverse in substance and in body. 

Thus, then, God created the element of water, that it might be the 
element of all metals and stones ; and He separated it from the other three 
elements into a peculiar body which was not in the air, in the earth, in the 
sky, but was something special, different from these. This he placed on the 
lower globe so that it might be above the earth and occupy the cavity in the 
earth where it lies. He founded it with such wonderful ingenuity that 
together with the earth it should carry men, who might walk and move upon 
it. And the first thing which moves our wonder in this respect is that it 
surrounds and encircles the globe and yet does not fall away from its 
appointed station ; so that the part lying under us is turned upwards just as 
we are, and in the same w-ay hangs suspended downwards. Then our wonder 
is increased, seeing that the bed or pit of this genuine element, at its centre 
of greatest depth, is quite bottomless, so that the water receives no support 
from the earth on which it lies ; but it stands freely and firmly in itself like 
an ^%%y nor does anything fall away from the shell; and this is a clear 
miracle of God. 

Now, in this element are the generations of all metals and stones, which 



A Book about MineraU, 



241 



exhibit themiieives under multifanous natures and forms. Moreover, as you 

see, all fruits grow out of the earth into the air, and none of them remain in 

the earth, but go out of it and separate themselves from it, so, growing out 

of the water, there go forth metals, salts, gems, stones, talcs, marcasites, 

sulphurs, etc.^all proceeding from the matrix of this element into another 

matrix, that is, into the earth, where the water completes its operation, but 

the root of minerals is in the water, as the root of trees and herbs is in the 

earth. But they are brought to perfection above the earth, and pass on to 

th^ir ultimate matter* which is entirely in the air. 

In like manner is completed on the earth that which grows in the water. 

So, then, when the root is in the water the growth takes place on the earth, 

and hence the doctrine of those writers is clearly erroneous who advance the 

the opinion that minerals grow out of the earth, and that all these minerals, 

how many soever they be, recognise the earth as their mother. This idea is 

worth nothing. Indeed, nothing grows from the earth save leaves, grasses, 

woods, herbs, and the like. Everj^thi ng else is from the water* Otherwise, 

by the same method of reasoning, il might be said of the growing things of 

the earth that they grow^ in the air since they live in the air ; but this is clearly 

fallacious* Their roots are found in the earth, and hence we learn that their 

origin is in the earth, but their perfecting in the ain In the same way, that 

which originates in the water acquires its perfection in the earth. The growth 

of minerals follows the same course, convincing us that they are aqueous, and 

proceed from the water, existing in the water as the primal matter of those 

same minerals, just as all fruits of the earth are generated in the earth, and 

after the predestined period they burst forth into harvest, or autumn, and 

generate that which is in them. When a root of this kind is born, it first 

rises into its own special tree, that is, its body, from which the particular 

mineral, metal, or other growth, should be produced in the earth. In like 

manner, also, the nut or the cherry does not spring straightway out of the 

earth, but first of all the tree is produced, and afterwards the fruit ; so, also, in 

the water Nature first puts forth a tree, which is the aqueous body, and this 

afterwards grows out into the earth ; that is, it occupies the pores of the 

earth, just as the tree fills the air. When this tree is now put forth into the 

earth, the fruits are forthwith born, congenital with the tree, according to 

their nature and condition. Here the metal grows in its own special kind, 

there some sort of salt is produced, there again some genus of sulphur breaks 

forth, and elsewhere some sort of gem is protruded. And, just in the same 

w^ay as many cherries or pears are found on one tree, so similar fruits of the 

water are found at the extremities, and, as it were, on the shoots oi the trees 

appertaining to the element of water. Again, like as some trees put forth 

many frtiits, and others only few, so, in this case too, there is a similar 

property, nature, and condition. Trees of this kind, therefore, should first 

be sought, and afterwards their fruits. Thus, the rustic who pursues his 

culture in the element of water will be taught and instructed, as the husband- 

R 



242 The Hermetic and Akhemical Writings of Paracelsus* 

man who plies his craft in the soil is taught how he should pursue his 
husbandry and where fruits must be found. 

Careful attention, too, should be g^iven in this method of generation, so 
that the illustration from the earth may hold good— in this way : There are 
some trees which bear their fruit, not nakedly* but under mixed conditions. 
The chestnut, the nut» and other similar growths, have a bark, thorny in 
appearance, and inside another, while, lastly, a thin skin encloses the kernel. 
So, in like manner, there are metals, also, and minerals lying hid in fiesh and 
skin, such as are the ore of iron, the ore of silver, and so on. These have to 
be removed in order that, after separation, the desired fruit may be extracted. 
On the other hand, there is another kind which puts forth its fruits nakedly, as 
cherries, plums, grapes. From these nothing is thrown away, but all is 
useful and good* So in the aqueous fountain are found pure and naked silver, 
gold, coral, carabe, and the like. These are all so arranged by Nature that 
there may be different sorts of trees and of barks, tn which the mineral lies, 
which also depend upon the variety and division of water, climate, and 
geographical position. That which lies hid within has to be extracted from 
the bark or shell, just as in the case of fruits. And yet further, as you see in the 
kernel a body and the kernel itself, so be well assured that, similarly, in the 
element itself there is a body and a spirit, so that the body has first to be sought 
for, and then the spirit in the body. Now, it is the spirit that makes the body, 
and so it makes also the mineral (or the nutriment). The mineral has one body, 
the fruit another. That is the same as saying that, although there may be 
gold in a body, and the body is worthless, because impure, and it must be 
separated by the goldsmith, so gold has a body which is not impure. There 
are two bodies. In the second is incorporated the fruit of the mineral, which 
need not be separated from that gold* So then the fruits are first developed 
out of the element into a trce^ afterwards into a body, and within the first 
shell that which is precious and good. Just as man is a twofold body, a dense 
body which is worthless, and within this another body which is good, so is it 
with all growths. Whatever God has created He perfects its corporality by a 
similar process. He has made man in one way, a tree in another, and a stone 
in another. But He made man more carefully, because He would that man 
should be created in His own likeness, so that eternity, in which other created 
things have no share, might reside In man. 

The same judgment is to be passed concerning the death of elements, 
because water has its own death no less than other things. Indeed, water is 
its own death, eating into, strangling, and consuming its own growth. We 
have proof of this in the earth. That which grows from it returns to it and 
perishes, so that no part of it any longer sur\^ives* So yesterday perishes and 
no man will ever see it again, and it is in like manner with the night past. 
In like manner also pass away all things born of the earth, which return to the 
earth, and are consumed by it, and yet it is not heavier by half an ounce then 
It was yesterday^ nor is it heavier to-day than it was a thousand years ago. 



A Book about Minerals. 



243 



Its weight remains one and the same. God has gifted His elements with this 
peculiarity, that they should give fruits and consume their superfluities, but 
whither those superfluities have gone no ijian knows, any more than he know^s 
whither yesterday has gone. In like manner, the element of water is its own 
death, inasmuch as it consumes and mortifies its own fruits. That death is in 
the great centre and terminus of water, the open sea, into which all water flows 
Whatever passes hereinto dies and decays, passing away even as wood is con- 
sumed in the fire. And as, year by year, new fruits emerge from the earth, 
while the old ones perish^ so, every day new minerals are begotten, be they 
metals* marcasites, gems, stones, salts, or springs. These all come forth girt 
about with death, as an infant who brings along with it death bound up with 
life. By the same method of reasoning, metals, too, bring with their ow^n be- 
ginning their own death too, and they die in the terminus of the w^ater, that 
is, in the open sea. The Rhine, the Danube, the lilbe, and other rivers are 
not the element itself; they are its fruits. The element is in the open sea. 
It is that out of which all grow and into which all must perforce return, and 
thus they acquire death whence life is allotted to them This death will be 
more fully described hereafter in distinct paragraphs, when it is pointed out 
separately how each mineral comes into being and dies. 

Now, with regard to the tree of the element of water, mark this. When 
Nature is about to put forth any growth into the world — be it gold, silver, 
copper ; be it gem, emerald, sapphire, granate ; be it a spring, sweet or 
brackish, warm or cold ; be it coral or marcasite — she then raises up, 
from the element of water, a tree on the earth, so that its root is fixed in 
the centre of the sea (or of the matrix). That tree sends forth its seed 
into the earth, and spreads forth its branches. Know, therefore, that its 
stock has the form of a liquid, which is not water, oil, bitumen, or mucilage. 
It has the appearance of wood produced from the earth, but still it is not 
wood, nor seed (or stock) and yet it is of the earth, and each has its own body. 
That liquid is the stock, and its branches are that same liquid, just as a tree 
is wood, and its branches are like in kind. So, then, the mineral tree is 
formed into a body of this kind, and afterwards divided into its ramifications, 
so that one branch very often extends from another into a second or third, 
running out and separately extending itself to a space of twenty, forty, or 
sixty miles. One branch turns to the German Alps, another to Lungia, 
another to the Valley of Joachim, and another to Transylvania. Such is its 
distribution throughout the whole world. In this way innumerable trees are 
interwoven, wherever the earth extends. As trees grow forth in this fashion, 
onQ after another on all sides, their extremities extend to the uttermost parts 
of the earth. Sometimes they crop up to the surface of plains under the open 
sky ; sometimes they remain in the earth according to the nature and condi- 
tion which is special to each tree. Hence it follows that at the extremities of 
the branches the nature of the element of w^ater pours forth its fruits on the 
earth. As soon as ever these fruits drop on the earth they are at once coagu* 



244 7J^ Hermiiic and Alchemical IVrUings of Paracelsus. 

lated, and there i% produced from every such tree just what should be produced 
in proper kind and quantity. When its fruit has been completely shed^ that tree 
withers and dies within itself. It perishes like all other things and itself 
passes on to the consummation where all thing^s find their end ; while, lastly, 
accofxfingr to its nature, a new growth emerges thence. 

From this you may learn that the primal matters of all minerals are put 
ti^;«ther in m^ater* and that this primal matter is neither more nor less than 
Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, which are now made the soul, spirit^ and true 
essence of the element These three substances contain within them all 
metals, salts, gems^ and the like. And when, at the predestined period, it is 
about to be^et those fruits which it cannot help producing, then each genus 
9Ji^ species gives birth to that which is like itself. Thus, if any person had 
different seeds^ as many as ever the world produces^ mixed together in a bag, 
and if he were to cast these forth, or to sow them in a garden, Nature, being 
equal to the occasion, would by-and-by allot to each its own fruit, bringing 
e**ery separate seed to its own vigour and perfection without injur)- to the 
others. Exactly the same is it with the element of water, as though this were 
the bag filled with seeds of all kinds to be sown. Here, too, even' genus and 
species is brought to its own nature and perfection- God, according to His 
marvellous plan, has gifted the four elements with these miracles of creation. 
These are the elements from which issue forth fruits destined for the ser\ice of 
man. Ever>' different kind has been created by God. By such investigations 
as these the mighty works of God are explored and understood. 

Surely, thereforei that philosophy is worthy of all praise which puts 
forward only the works of God for our consideration. Every man is bound to 
learn all he can about these, so that he may know what, and how much, his 
Creator has done for his sake. 

True, the enemy has intruded and sown his tares in this philosophy. Such 
as this are Aristotle, Albert us, and Avicenna, with their accomplices, who are 
mere tares of the field. That enemy bursting in has devastated everything 
and begotten other noxious philosophers whose system is destitute of all 
knowledge of Nature, and is without any foundation at all. Lacking all light 
of experience, such philosophy violates in the most disgraceful way the light 
of Nature. Its professors are the busy-bodies who, mixing themselves up 
with all good things, exhibit themselves to the devil as sons of perdition. 

So far, you have heard that the primal matter is conjoined in the matrix 
as in a bag, being compounded of three parts, .'^s many as are the fruits, so 
many are the different kinds of Sulphur, Salt, and Mercur>'. There is one 
kind of Sulphur in gold, another in silver, another in iron, another in lead, 
tin^ and so on. So, there is one kind in the sapphire, another in the emerald, 
another in the ruby, cr^'solile, amethyst, magnet, etc. Furthermore, there is 
a different kind in stones, flint, salts, fountains, and the rest. And there are 
not only so many Sulphurs, but so many Salts. There is one Salt in metals, 
another in gems^ another in stones, another in salts, another in vitriol, another 



A Book about Minerals. 



245 



in alum. Such, too, is the case with Mercury. There is one kind in metals^ 
another in gems* and so on as before. Yet these things are still only three. 
One essence is Sulphur, one Salt* one Mercur}\ Add to this> that all these 
are still more specially divided. Gold is not one but manifold, as also a pear, 
an apple, is not on^ but manifold. There are, therefore, just as many 
Sulphurs of gold, Salts of gold, Mercuries of gold. The same remark 
applies to metals and gems. .\s many sapphires as there are, some more 
valuable^ others more common, so many Sulphurs of sapphire, Salts of 
sapphire, and Mercuries of sapphire are there. The same is true of turquoise 
and all other gems. All these things Nature holds, as it were, as in one 
closed hand, from which she puts forth every separate kind, the best and 
noblest that she has. Thus, she contributes metals to one genus, and divides 
that genus into other and vaiious species, all comprising metals. In this way 
the three primals are to be understood, namely, that they embrace as many 
created species as grow ; and yet they are only composed of one Sulphur, one 
Salt, and one Mercur}'^ As a painter with one colour depicts numberless 
figures and forms, no one of which is like another, so Nature is like that 
painter. In this alone they differ; Nature produces these things with 
life, while the painter produces only dead ones, Nature*s productions are 
substantial ; the p;i inter's are mere shadows. 

Then again, the reasoning about colours leads to a similar conclusion. 
On that head, notice this brief information, that all colours proceed from Salt. 
Salt gives colour, gives balsam and coagulation. Sulphur gives body, 
substance, and build. Mercury gives virtues, power, and arcana. So these 
three ought to be combined, nor can one exist without the other. God gives 
life to those whom He has predestined to derive it from these as it has seemed 
good to Him. Now Nature herself extracts the colours from the Salt» giving 
to each species that colour which is suitable. The body which is appropriate to 
each it takes from Sulphur. Thus, too, the necessary virtues are derived from 
Mercury. So, then, whoever wishes to learn the bodies of all things must 
before all else make himself acquainted with Sulphur. Again, he who desires 
to know colours must seek his knowledge from Salt. He who wishes to learn 
virtues let him scrutinise the secrets of Mercury. So he will have laid the 
foundation for examining the mysteries of every growing thing as Nature has 
infused these mysteries into each separate species. But you should know that 
Nature has mixed up such bodies, colours, virtues, one with the other ; yet 
with a little effort it is possible for any one who w^ill, and to whom God gives 
the power, again to separate them, to form^ colour, and endow them. Vou 
see and know how it wakens our wonder wlien from a dusky black seed 
emerges a tree adorned with its bright and joyous colours, with leaves, fruits, 
and flowers. This mystery of Nature, as it exists in flowers, is so sublime 
and great that no one can fully investigate it. God is very much to be ad- 
mired ill His works, and from the contemplation of these one ought not to with- 
draw by night or day, but constantly to take delight in the study of them. 
This is in the truest sense to walk in the ways of God. 



246 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

Moreover, it will be in consonance with my subject, and of practical use 
as well, if I advise you in one course of the order obser\'ed in this book about 
minerals. This order is different to that which has been pursued by others. 
First the metals will be treated, and these are not of one kind but distributed 
according to their own essences and also according to the uses which they 
supply for men. Some of these are fragile, others durable, and in proportion 
they are subservient to human convenience. So, also, some gems are useful 
to man not m their metallic form, but in order that they may be worn, or 
minister to human health. Such as these are the sapphire, the magnet, the 
cornelian, etc. These are created in a special form, so that a man may be 
able easily to carry them about with him. Then, again, there is another kind of 
stones which man does not use as he uses a metal or a gem, but which he 
employs for building houses or other receptacles necessary for human life. 
Further still, another genus is composed of Salts, of more than one species, 
which are neither metals, nor gems, nor stones, which also are useful for 
purposes which are subserved neither by metals, gems, nor stones. Moreover, 
a special order has been assigned to springs, some of which do good to the 
internal organs of the body, others help it externally. Some are warm and 
others cold, some acid whilst others are sweet. There are so many different 
species that one could not exhaustively define them. There are also different 
kinds of marcasites, two, for example, coloured like gold and silver. But 
there are very many species in which God has held several things in reserve, 
which also are put in man*s hand that he may seek what he will, and extract 
from them whatever God has conferred upon them. There are also things 
that belong to a different genus ; talc, of which there are four sorts, red, 
white, black, and clay-coloured. This genus comprises neither metals, gems, 
stones, salts, springs, nor marcasites, but something special and by itself. It 
gives also sand, with a supply of silver. Of this more need not be said than 
that it is useful for buildings and for making cements. There is also another 
genus given to us, namely, sulphureous minerals, of which there are two, the 
clay-coloured and the black ; and there are also carabse. 

There are more of this nature, and especially one genus which is allied to 
no other, in which the health of men is to be found, and it can also be applied 
to external uses. Besides this there is another genus not like the above-men- 
tioned, namely, corals. Of these the red and the white are well known. 
Other colours are also found, and forms such as are described in the 
paragraphs devoted to the subject Moreover, after these there remains 
another genus, beyond what is natural, which, by the will of Nature, becomes 
an instrument of various forms and properties, as the eagle-stone and the 
buccinae, cockles, patellae, etc. The origin of these from the element of the 
water, you can find in my succeeding paragraph. From the element of water, 
too, many kinds of fruits are produced ; and though I shall only describe 
those which are known to me, I have found out much more, because the lower 
globe and the higher sphere, in all their parts, above, below, and on every 



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H7 



side» are crammed with such as have been mentioned. 1 should, therefore, be 
fully competent to write about these* But still it is true that many are hidden 
in the world about which I know nothing. Yet neither do others know them. 
It is» indeed^ true that many and various things are about to be revealed by 
God^ concerning which none of us has hitherto even dreamed. For it is true 
that nothing is so occult that it shall not at length be made manifest. Some 
one %vill come after me whose great gift does not yet exist, and he will 
manifest this. 

You should know, however, that there are three parts in this Art* to 
which the perfections of minerals are compared. These three artifices in the 
nature of the element are congenital with the three primals. For as man has 
his gifts in the arts, by which he excels, so also Art affords to them in the 
matter of the three primals. And it should next be understood that no man 
can bring to perfection any thing or any work by himself, without some one 
to help him. No one is superior to another save that man alone who knows 
how to conjoin what should be conjoined. Iron ore, for example, is ready to 
hand. But what can it do of itself? Nothing, unless there be added one who 
will fuse and prepare it* Secondly, this is nothing without a smith to forge it. 
This, again, is of no practical use unless there be someone to buy it and to 
apply it to its purposes. Such is the condition of all things* The same thing 
likewise occurs in Nature, where it is not one thing only which makes a 
mineral. Others must be added, analogous to the fuser, buyer, seller, and 
user. If Nature does not supply this work, she deputes it to man, as the 
primal matter whose duty it is to supply what is lacking. Nature, nevertheless, 
has need of a dispenser, who will arrange and set in order what ought to be 
joined together, so that what should be done may find accomplishment. One 
is ordained by God for this conjunction, and that is the Archeus of Nature. 
He afterwards requires his operatives to co-operate with him, to fashion the 
thing, and bring it into that condition for which it is appointed* Hence it 
follows that three things must be taken which reduce every mineral to its 
appointed end* These are Sulphur, Salt, and Mercur}\ Those three perfect 
all things. First of all there is need of a body in which the fabrication shall 
be begun. This is Sulphur. Then there is necessary a property or- virtue. 
This i5 Mercury. Lastly, there is required compaction, congelation, unification. 
This is Salt. Thus at last the thing is brought about as it should be. But it 
is not every Sulphur which is a body for gold, nor every Mercury for its virtue, 
nor every Salt for its unification ; but just as there are many blacksmiths, one 
doing this thing, another that, so also here. God, therefore, has appointed 
that the Archeus should set in order those things which are to be conjoined, 
just as a baker, cooking bread, joins together what has to be joined, or a vine- 
dresser seeks out and joins what has to be joined for the purpose of cultivating 
his vineyard. Everything is appointed to its own purpose, and everything 
finds out what is necessarj' for its own special purpose. Now, if the Archeus 
has his lead ore, and it be necessary to form a tree in gold, iron, jacinth, 



248 The Hermetic and Alchemual Writings of Paracelsus, 

granate^ dueiech^ marble, sand, cachimla, or what not, then he takes and com- 
bines the three simples, Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, which are of this nature, 
and do serve his purpose. Afterwards he casts them into his Athanor, where 
they are decocted, as seed in the earth. They are decocted again in such a 
way that Sulphur may add its body» in which the operation consists. They 
prepare it according to their judgment for that which it ought to be or to 
become. Next, out of the other two Mercury is decocted for its properties, so 
that those may be present which ought so to be. When these decoctions have 
been made, there follows, lastly, conservation, which is brought about by 
means of Salt, In this way all is coagulated ; that is, the Salt first unifies, next 
congeals, and lastly, coagulates* Now it is strengthened, so that already the 
autumn is ready and he is at hand w^ho is to beat out the metal. Let this 
brief account suffice for every generation of metals, namely, in what way they 
are conjoined. Concerning each one separately, how it is to be dealt with, 
instruction shall be given in the particular chapter. And this teaching, indeed, 
concerning minerals is necessary in order that everything may be more rightly 
and plainly understood, and that you may not be led aw^ay by the deceits of 
the old writers and their followers. They are puffed up with vast self-esteem, 
and are only approved by those like them, who are as unskilful as themselves, 
but do not take their ease quite so much, hoping that they may search into 
and gather these things by more exact study. 

il. 

Concerning the generation of metals, you may be assured that there 
is a great number and vast variety of them. A metal is that which fire 
can subdue, and out of which the artisan can make some instrument. 
Of this class are gold, silver, iron, copper, lead, tin, These are called 
metals by every one. But there are also, besides these, certain metals which 
are not reckoned as metals, either in the writings and philosophy of the 
ancients nor by the common people, and yet they are metals. To these 
belong zinc and cobalt (which are subtlued and forged by force of fire), as 
also certain granates (accustomed to be so called) of which there are many 
kinds, themselves also metals. But many more are those which up to this 
time are not as yet known to me. as are many different sorts of marcasites, 
bismuths, and other cachimi^e, which produce metals, but of kinds not yet 
known. Only the principal ones are known, w^hich are more ready and con- 
venient for use, such as gold, silver^ iron, copper, tin, lead. The rest are 
pretty completely neglected, and nobody cares about their properties — neither 
the smith nor the ironworker, the tinman, brazier, or goldsmith. Neverthe- 
less, these metals are for other operators, not yet born. No one is competent 
Lo learn save in one way and by a single art. The assertion that quicksilver is a 
metal has no truth in it. It belongs to another class of minerals ; not being 
a metal, a stone, a marcasite, or a sapphire, etc. It is a peculiar growth of 
Nature, gifted with its ow^n body like the rest, and provided with its pro- 



A Book about Minerals. 



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perties. The custom is passing away, too, of arranging seven metals for the 
seven planets. From this it arose that, not having full knowledge of metils, 
people reckoned quicksilver as one of them* According to their comparison 
of things, gold is Sol, silver is Luna, copper is Venus, lead Saturn, and tin 
Jupiter. But come, arrange these things. If you join Venus and copper you 
will soon see how they square and agree with one another. Join and compare 
lead with Saturn, and notice what happens. Compare tin and Jupiter, and 
see what fruit will arise- Such philosophy is nothing but rubbish and con- 
fusion. Not the slightest vestige of any foundation or light appears in it. 
Such remarks are merely barbarous, and not philosophy at all. Of the same 
kind is the assertion that quicksilver is Mercury. Compare the complexion, 
nature » working, quality, properties, and various virtues and essences, and see 
how they square one with another and agree. They are quite incongruous. 
One has not the least likeness to the other. It is true that the Philosophy 
of Plants has arranged seven herbs according to the seven planets ; but these 
are the mere dreams of physicians, with no stability or power of proof in them. 
According to them, mercurialis is Mercury^ heliotrope Sol, and lunaria Luna. 
But do you think- you " Fathers **— that you can fly away to the sky and 
have the power of comparing earth with heaven without any astronomy or 
philosophy, when you cannot even get a glimpse of what lies hid in so 
common a growth as the heliotrope? This distribution, therefore, should be 
admitted by nobody, but ought to be relegated to those w^ho do not judge 
according to the light of Nature, but by their own long stoles. The chapter 
on metals teaches you that those metab are six in number, so far as they are 
known to me, and 1 have given them above. To these are added a few others 
—some three or four- which are known to me, and the number and species 
whereof shall be given in due course. I think it very likely that a large 
number stil! remain* For by provings of the metals, many proofs present them- 
selves which are metallic, that is, they are reckoned according to the nature 
of the six metals, though they do not altogether agree thereto , so that I 
should augur from this that a great number of metals still remain. Every 
mineral can be thoroughly known and discriminated if subjected to a sufficient 
examination. 

With regard to the generation of Gold, the true opinion is that it is 
Sulphur sublimated to the highest degree by Nature, and purged from all 
dregs, blackness, and filth whatev^er, so transparent and lustrous (if one may 
say so) as no other of the metals can be, with a higher and more exalted 
body. Sulphur, one of the three primals, is the first matter of gold. If 
Alchemists could find and obtain this Sulphur, such as it is in the auriferous 
tree at its roots in the mountains, it would certainly be the cause of effusive 
joy on their part. This is the Sulphur of the Philosophers, from which gold 
is produced, not that other Sulphur from which come iron, copper, etc. This is 
a little bit of their universality. Moreover, Mercury, separated to the highest 
degree, according to metallic nature, and free from all earthly and accidental 



1t$o The Hermetic and Alchemkal Writings of Paracelsus. 

admixtureSi is changed into a mercurial body with consummate clearness* 
This is the Mercury of the Philosophers which generates gold, and is the 
second part of the primal matter. The third part of the primal matter of 
goldp or of the tree from which gold ought to grow, as a rose from a 
rose-seed, is salt, crystallized to the highest degree, and so highly separated 
and purified from all its acridity, bitterness, acelosity, aluminous, and vitriolic 
character, that it no longer has anything of the kind appertaining to it, 
but is carefully illuminated in itself to the very supreme point, and advanced 
to the highest transparency of the beryl. These three ingredients in con- 
junction are gold, which is decocted in the way of which we have already 
spoken. 

Moreover, the genus of gold is not single, but manifold. Its grade is not 
one only, but Nature of herself gi%'es thirty-two degrees to the finest gold. In 
our Art, twenty-four degrees are found for establishing the best gold. The 
cause of this is that gold in its tree is like a cow in the pastures, or like 
Epicurus in the kitchen. As soon as he has gone out all vigour and animation 
become fallen and diminished. So is it with gold : because if it be reduced so 
as to be the first matter of man, then, as if gone out of its kitchen, it at once 
loses eight out of the thirty-tw*o degrees to which allusion has been made. 
But there are diversities in the kitchens, too, some being better and others 
worse. Accordingly as the gold falls into this %y\\^ or the other, so it is 
either increased or diminished in degrees from twenty-six degrees as a maxi- 
mum dow^n to ten degrees as a minimum. The grades below this are too pale 
and not recognisable. For it is the nature of gold to be either light or dense. 
This happens from some impediment w^hich occurs from the stars or other 
elements which aid in the decoction. As one man is more dense or more 
subtle than another, so neither does gold always attain its complete grade, 
principally for this reason that too much body, or Salt, or Mercury, has been 
added, from w^hich fault and error are sure to arise. Too much Salt causes 
too great paleness. Too much Mercury makes the gold too much the colour 
of corn. Too much Sulphur confers excessive redness. And it must be re- 
membered, too, that sometimes the weights are unequally divided. Nature 
sometimes errs as well as men. If this happens ^ the grade is unequal. It 
reaches a point from twelve to twenty-four. But if the superfluous weight be 
removed (as it can be by Art), say, by antimony, by quarta, as it is called, by 
regal cement, or by other means, the irrelevant weights are removed and the 
twenty-four degrees remain. Let not the Alchemist, then, attempt rashly to 
graduate gold, which is done in this way. For the weight in excess is unfit 
to assume its degree and to be reduced to a just standard. But what is not 
good of its kind cannot be exalted. Yet it may be that gold which is too 
pallid in its decoction may be graduated. But a principal item of knowledge 
w^ith regard to this is that it does not lose its body in regale, antimony, and 
quarta. Indeed, it persistently retains both its colour and its weight. This 
is a property of good gold. 



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25' 



Gold becomes white by Sulphur in the manner already detailed. But the 
other twO| Mercury and Salt, are white, and. of a golden nature. These so 
tinge a suiphurous body that it loses its redness and grows white. Sulphur 
takes the tint of other colours. For though the whole be red, or white, or 
clay-coloured, its colour is changed by the tincture which is composed of 
Mercury and Salt. When, therefore, the body is Sulphur, the tincture of 
Alchemy can easily change its colour. It is necessary, how^ever, in this case, 
that the other tincture, the Alchemical to wit, should tinge the Mercury and 
Salt from whiteness to redness. In this way gold assumes the colour which 
it ought to have. And it should be realised that there are complexions in gold 
and in other metals, just as there are in man himself. 

Another fact which should be accepted is that the white complexion also is 
changed by corporal transmutation. So also is redness. These two colours 
separately inhere in redness. Yellowness inheres in whiteness ; and these are 
subject to the primary colours. This transmutation can be effected by means 
of Alchemy, but under the condition that it shall be directed to the complexions, 
and that it shall first of all be tested in man, so that one shall be made of a 
melancholy or a sanguine temperament, just as cattle may be made black or 
white, and that by a tincture. Nature, indeed, in her mineral working, 
acts exactly as she does with man in his generation. In the same way man 
also ought to act in the generation of Nature, as being superior to Nature 
in this respect, if only Nature has gifted him with the astral mysteries of the 
arts* This method of treatment, however, I now relegate to astronomy. 

Attention also must be paid to the ftict that at this juncture Nature takes 
the lead in matters of the kind described. In Sulphur there is nothing save 
a body, in Salt nothing, only in Mercury- Sulphur and Salt are so far avail- 
able that the one gives the body in which is gold, the other adds strength. 
In what relates to the nature, force, and virtue, all this is due to Mercurjv 
Whatever property there is in Sulphur belongs to all alike. There is nothing 
in it except body where Mercury^ is not present. So in Salt. But know that 
Salt is a balsam, and conserves Mercur}' so that its virtues and properties 
shall not putrefy or decay. Thus, this virtue is incorporated with gold, and if 
it be separated after coagulation in Salt it cannot be detected by Art, as 
neither can the properties of Sulphur be discovered. But all these are readily 
found in Mercury. So when Art separates, it deserts the body, nor takes any 
heed of its medicine. In like manner^ it deserts Salt, together with its 
medicine. And although the body has some influence as a body, and Salt as 
Salt, still, these medicines must not be sought therein, but only in Mercury, 
which contains all things. For this is the rafionaie of creation, that in all the 
outgrowths from the four elements of Nature, not only are those things 
present w-hich are of themselves seen and understood, but these also contain 
within them the magnet which, in decoction and preparation, attracts to itself 
the essences of the three primals, that is, the Quintessence, as the ancients 
term it, though they ought rather to call it the quart-essence. For the mineral 



252 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

consists of three ; and besides these there is the magnet, which is a medicine. 
The magnet has attracted this and it is found in Mercury. But Mercury itself, 
too, in its ultimate separation, loses much of its weight. 

When Nature is thus prepared and lead to such increase, at first the 
gold becomes a tree after its kind. This spreads itself, and afterwards are 
generated the branches. The flower follows ; then the fruit. The flower 
in the earth, like that in any other tree, is at the extremity. And as the 
flower is at the extremity, and the nucleus too, while yet immature, so there 
is the same method observable in the generation of gold and of all metals. 
When the flower falls the fruit is born in its place. This, it is true, does 
not always burst forth where the flower had stood, but this is the nature of 
the auriferous tree, that the fruit flourishes sometimes at the distance of 
several hundred ells in the interior of the tree itself, some straightway in the 
open air, and others midway between the two. There is thus some difference 
amongst auriferous trees, the natures of which vary one from the other. 
Hence they are found distributed in different ways, just as their own peculiar 
mode of growth is assigned by God to other trees. 

Besides, with regard to gold, this fact also deserves to be well weighed, 
namely, that it is sometimes overloaded with impediments, so that occasionally 
nothing takes place except a generation of Mercury. If this takes place, it 
leads one astray. If corrosive salts fall on the flowers, they are eaten away, 
just as the actual flowers on trees are eaten by worms. The gold, too, is 
chilled by Mercury or burnt by Salts. There are many mishaps of this kind. 
The earth, and the firmament, and the air may destroy it. Unless these are 
fruitful they bring forth no good. As trees are burnt up by a blazing sun, so 
here also it takes place in the water. The light of philosophy teaches us all 
these matters, and they are abundantly established by experience. The 
minerals of gold, therefore, and others, are forced to submit to hindrances of 
this kind. There is nothing in existence .which is not occasionally shaken 
with its tempests. But there are other impediments which are wont to effect 
the degree. Of this class are cachimiae, resins, and other marcasites, which 
insinuate themselves into the workings, and send forth their tinctures. All 
these are rejected in the Art. 

Concerning Silver. 

Silver is generated from white Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury, which, being 
most subtly prepared and rendered transparent, have been restored to a 
fixed nature, that is, they are fixed from their special nature nearest to gold in 
a fire of ashes, but not with antimony, regale, and quarta. Here is the differ- 
ence in fixation between gold and silver, in this respect, that gold is male and 
possesses masculine virtues, while silver is female and is possessed of feminine 
virtues. Herein lies the difference between the fixation of gold and of silver. 
Since gold is male it can bear more fixation, but silver less. Thus the matter 
of silver is comprised in its primals, as is the case with a woman. Gold 



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253 



and silver, indeed, are of one and the same primal matter j but the same 
distinction supervenes as exists between a man and a woman. 

Concerning Jove. 
Of the generation of Jove it should be known that it is produced from 
fixed white Sulphyr, fixed Salt, and from Mercury that is not fixed ; and for 
this reason, because Jupiter is fixed according- to body, but not in the sub- 
stance of Mercury. It loses ad its fusion and malleability. Afterwards it 
ceases to be a metal ; for the metallic spirit is separated therefrom by Art* 
As soon as ever this has been done, it is nothing- else but white Sulphur, and 
Salt, and dried Mercury. 

Concerning Saturn. 

Saturn is born from a black, sulphurous, and dense body beyond all other 
metals. On account of its density it consists of the thickest Mercury and the 
most fluid Salt, so that there is received into Saturn the most fluid body of 
Sulphur, Salt, and Mercury. These same, moreover, are the three most dense 
natures of all the metals. If this metal be dissolved and ceases to be lead, it 
becomes ceruse, spirit of Saturn, lead ochre, and finally glass. It consists 
of three colours, the lemon colour it gets from Sulphur, and the white from 
Mercury, It gets its spirit from Salt, and from all together its vitreous 
nature, just as all the metals have. 

Concerning Iron and Steel. 

On the other hand, iron is generated from the least fluid Sulphur, Salt, 
and Mercury, being the very opposite of tin and lead. It is coagulated into a 
hard metal, and copulated in itself. For two metals are joined together in 
one, iron and steel. Iron is feminine and steel m<Lsculine. This conjugation 
resembles that of gold and silver, that is to say, the male and female grow 
together. They can, therefore, be in their turn separated, the female to her 
sex, the male to his. The female can be applied to her uses, and the male to 
his in like manner* 

Concerning Venus. 

Copper is generated from purple Sulphur, red Salt, and yellow Mercury. 
If these three colours be mixed with one another, copper is produced. 
Now, copper contains within itself its own female element, that is, its scorise. 
If these are separated by Art, and the body reduced, it comes out male. The 
nature of each constituent is such that the male does not suffer itself to be 
again destroyed, and the female no longer emits scoriae. They differ from one 
another in fluxibility and malleability, as iron and steel differ. If that separa- 
tion be made, and each consigned to its own nature, two metals are produced, 
differing altogether in essence, species, and properties. 

Note. 
Such and so many in number are the metals, as I have reckoned them 
up, namely, gold, silver, tin, lead, iron, steel, female copper, and male 



254 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

copper. Thus they are eight in number. But if— as cannot be the case — 
iron and steel, and male and female copper respectively, are reckoned each as 
one metal, there would be only six, and the arrangement would be incon- 
venient. There are seven well-defined and publicly known metals : gold, 
silver, tin, lead, iron, steel, and copper, the last being reckoned as one metal, 
since the male and female are wrought together and not separated, as they 
ought to be. 

Of Mixed Metals. 

You perceive, from what has been already said, that the male is not 
always solitary without a consort, but often they co-exist, as in the cases of 
gold and silver, iron and steel, which grow together in one working, from 
which each retains its own special nature, but still they are mixed so that one 
does not impede the other, nor are they of their own accord separated one 
from the other. Such, too, is often the case with tin and lead. But where they 
are thus joined no good result ensues from them. They do not square into 
one body ; but it is better that each should be separated into its own body. 

Concerning Spurious Metals. 

Metals can be adulterated. Only gold and silver mix with the other 
metals, for the reason that they are the most subtle. Only, therefore, when 
such a primal matter is present, does each grow up together by itself. It may 
easily be that six or seven different fruits shall be grafted together on the 
same tree ; and there is the same marvellous kind of implantation here in 
Nature. 

Concerning Zinc 

Moreover, there is a certain metal, not commonly known, called zinc. It 
is of peculiar nature and origin. Many metals are adulterated in it. The 
metal of itself is fluid, because it is generated from three fluid primals. It does 
not admit of hammering, only of fusion. Its colours are different from other 
colours, so that it resembles no other metals in the condition of growth. 
Such, I say, is this metal that its ultimate matter, to me at least, is not yet 
fully known. It does not admit of admixture ; nor does it allow the fabrica- 
tions of other metals. It stands alone by itself. 

Concerning Cobalt. 

Moreover, another metal is produced from cobalt. It is fluid like zinc, 
with a peculiar black colour, beyond that of lead and iron, possessing no 
brightness or metallic sparkle. It is capable of being wrought, and is 
malleable, but not to such an extent as to fit it for practical use. The ultimate 
matter of this substance has not as yet been discovered, nor its method of 
preparation. There is little doubt that the male and female elements are joined 
in its constitution, as in the case of iron and steel. They are not capable of 
being wrought, but remain such as they are, until Art shall discover the 
process for separating them. 



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255 



Concerning Granates. 
Besideis these^ there is another peculiar metal which is found in streams 
and marsheSi in the form of a seed like a large or small bean. It is founded 
and wrought by itself, but not so as to fit it for making instruments. It is of 
no practical use, nor is it known what properties it comprises. Unless 
Alchemy shall disclose its nature, it is not likely to be made clear at all. It 
allows many mixtures of silver and gold, which penetrate it as they do 
copper or lead. It is produced from citron-coloured Sulphur. 

Note. ^Concerning GEXfs. 
There are other transparent granates in the form of cr^'Stal, wherein are 
latent both silver and gold. 

CoNiERNiNG Quicksilver. 

There is, moreover, a certain genus which is neither hammered nor 
founded ; and it is a mineral water of metals. As water is to other sub- 
stances, so is this with reference to metals. So far it should be a metal as 
Alchemy reduces it to malleability and capacity of being wrought. Commonly 
it has no consistence, but sometimes it has. The right opinion about it is 
that it is the primal matter of the Alchemists, %vho know how to get from it 
silver, gold, copper, etc., as the event proves. Possibly also tin, lead, and 
iron can be made from it. Its nature is manifold and marvellous, and can 
only be studied with great toil and constant application. This, at all events, 
is clear, that it is the primal matter of the Alchemists in generating metals, 
and, moreover, a remarkable medicine. It is produced from Sulphur, 
Mercur>% and Salt, with this remarkable nature that it is a f!uid, but does not 
moisten, and runs about, though it has no feet. It is the heaviest of all 
the metals. 

Note. 

So far, then, all the metals have been thus described, up to the point that 
they are known to me, according to their substance and origin, following that 
guide, and based upon that foundation, which is supplied by the ultimate 
matter. By means of this the first three are found out, what is their species, 
and whence they are derived. Indeed, the generation of the others cannot be 
explained in any way save by experience, which is finally proved by the 
primal matter in Vulcan. In this way none can err. 

Concerning CACHiMiiB, that is, the Three Imperfect Bodies. 
Attention should be paid to a certain genus of minerals which is, indeed, 
of a metallic nature, but is not a metal. The things which belong to this 
genus possess peculiar qualities, of which 1 shall give several instances. For 
example, all marchasites, which are multifold, red and white, as also pyrites, 
which are also multifold, white and red, and of another genus than 
marchasites. There are, moreover, the genera of antimony, which are many» 
perfect and imperfect ; next the varieties of arsenicalia. To these also pertain 



256 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

talcs, auri pigments, and many cachimiae of this kind, which differ with the 
reg"ions in which they are found. Concerning these we must set down that 
they are to a certain extent metallic, in that they have a proximate metallic 
first matter, and descend from the first three metallic principles. Metals such 
as gold, silver, copper, lead, etc., are incorporated with them. But because 
they incorporate also a metallic foe, nothing can be extracted from them 
without alchemy ; but these same foes are of great capacity* These are 
generated in the following order : Marchasites, pyrites, antimonies, cobalts, 
talcs, auripigments. sulphurs, arsenical ta. I am acquainted with alf of these. 

General Recapitulation concerning GeNERATroN. 

This chapter and text is entitled Concerning the Three Imperfect Bodies 
for this reason, that it is concerned with a metallic growth which bears the 
same relation to metals as tumourous fleshly excrescences bear to natural 
flesh, as the fungus bears to the herb, or the ape to the man. Of these things 
some are in the body of sulphur, as marcasites, pyrites, cobalts ; others are in 
the body of mercurj% as antimony, arsenicalia, and auripigment ; yet others 
are in salt, as talc. 

Of the Generation of Marcasites. 

Marcasite is of two colours, citrine and white, metallic and brilliant. 
It is generated from imperfect metallic sulphur, which is destined to become 
marcasite by a natural necessity. 



Ai the conclusion 0/ the BooK ABOUT Minerals there folkms in the 
Geneva foiw a briej frapnenf which is concerned ivith the three firime prin- 
ciples in their comuction with man. It is en tit led an 

Autograph Schedule by Paracelsus. 
There are, then, in human beings only seven planets ; four of which are 
bodies per se^ not forming part of anything else. There are also other 
minerals, those of the three primals to wit, which come from Sulphur, Mer- 
cury, and Salt, and are specially called mineral, because they are either 
themselves minerals or form parts of minerals. There are two minerals, and 
several parts, which enter partially into their composition Gold, for instance, 
bears with it three parts, Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury ; and all species com- 
prised under minerals are made up of these three parts. Every planet has a 
perfect Yliadus* The other parts have not the same, as, for instance, sal 
gemmae, forming a species, not a part ; a marcasite is a species, cachimia? # 
is a species. But spirits have species in them, as the salt of a gem has 
Arsenic, fixed Sulphur, and fiquid Mercury. The Yliadus, however, differs 
from the former Yliadus, because the former has his substance and mineral 
perfect. Minerals have such species; not a manifest body as planets have. 
Wherefore the Yliadus is to be understood in a twofold sense, one referring 
to the body, and one to the spirits, The corporal Yliadus is partaker with 
the spirits of the Yliadus ; but the spiritual is not partaker with the former. 



APPENDIX II. 



[The alchemical importance which attaches to a proper conception of the 
four so-called e!ementar>^ substances is explained in a note appended to the 
Philosophy of Paracelsus Concerning the Generation of Elements. The origin, 
nature, and operation of the three prime principles are, howe%'er, of no less 
moment. As these principles are evidently to be distinguished from salt, 
sulphur, and mercury of the vulgar kind, it is requisite to accentuate the 
distinction by contrasting at some length the references to the principles 
which are contained in the text of the present volume with the knowledge 
exhibited by Paracelsus on the subject of ordinary salt, sulphur, and mercury* 
The treatise concerning the first of these substances, which has been here 
selected for translation, is derived from a collection entitled De Nahiralibtis 
Rebus, which will be found in the second volume of the Geneva folio.] 



CONCERNING SALT AND SUBSTANCES COMPREHENDED 

UNDER SALT, 

GOD has driven and reduced man to such a pitch of necessit}' and want 
that he is unable in any way to live without sa!t, but has most urgent 
ne^d thereof for his food and eatables. This is man's need and 
condition of compulsion. The causes of this compulsion I will briefly explain. 
Man consists of three things : sulphur, mercy r)% and salt. Of these consists 
also whatever anywhere exists, and of neither more nor fewer constituents. 
These are the body of every single thing, whether endowed with sense or 
deprived thereof. Now, since man is divided into species, he is therefore 
subject to decay, nor can he escape it except in so far as God has endowed 
him with a congenital balsam which also itself consists of three ingredients. 
This is salt, preserving man from decay ; where salt is deficient, there that 
part which is without salt decays. For as the flesh of cattle which is salted 
is made free from decay, so also salt naturally infused into us by God 
preserves our body from putrefaction. Let that theory stand, then, that man 
consists of three bodies, and that one of these is salt, as the conservative 
element which prevents the body born with it from decaying. As, therefore, 
all created things, all substances^ consist of these three, it is necessary that 

S 




258 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

they should be sustained and conserved by their nutriments each according to 
Its kind. Hence p also, it is necessary that all gfrowths of the earth should 
gather their nutriment from those three things of which they consist. Ff they 
do not, it is inevitable that these first creations perish and die in their three 
species. These nutriments are earth and rain, that is» liquid. Herein there 
are threefold nutriments. In sulphur is its own sulphur, in mercury' its own 
mercury, and in salt its own salt. Nature contains all these things in one. 
So from this liquid, which is the nutriment of natural things, natural salt is 
decocted. 

Hence by parity of reasoning it is clear that man himself also must be 
nourished in the same way : that is to say, that his sulphur must receive 
nut ri mental sulphur, mercury its nutrimcntal mercury', and the congenital 
salt its nutrimental salt, whereby, from these three, man may be sustained 
and conserved in his species. Whatever burns is sulphur, whatever is humid 
is mercury, and that which is the balsam of these two is salt. Hereupon 
depends the diversity of human aliments. Man has need of ardent foods for 
the sustentation of his sulphur ; he wants moist foods for keeping up his 
supply of mercury, and eats salt to cherish his nature of salt. If this order be 
violated, that species in the body perishes, u^hichever species is neglected ; 
and when one part perishes the rest perish with it. This order must be kept 
in due series. The Academics know nothing of this philosophy, a fact not be 
wondered at, since in other matters they neither know nor can Ao anything. 

Now, all the world over, there are ardent foods such as flesh-meat, fish, 
bread, etc. So there are humid foods, as springs, flowing streams, seas. 
In like manner, there is salt everywhere. These things are distributed over 
the whole world, so that everj^where the supply of them is ready to hand. 

Now, with regard to the nature of man, the following should be accepted. 
The reason man desires food is on account of his sulphur. Why he needs 
drink, whether it be water or wine, is on account of the mercury ; and the 
reason of his desiring salt is on account of his salt in himself. These facts are 
little known, but nevertheless nature does crave for these things. And this is 
not the case with men only ; but animals, too, become fatter, stronger, more 
useful, and more healthy with salt than without it. If the due quantity of salt 
be not supplied, some defect arises in ovi^ of the two species, so that the 
animal decays and dies. Its nature is no longer supported by those necessary 
aliments which it requires. The condition of man is similar. Without nutri- 
ments of this kind he cannot live. The appetite of the nature with which he 
is born requires some satisfaction proportioned to his need. It is reported, 
indeed, that in certain newly-discovered islands men prepare no food cooked 
with salt, nor supply such food to their animals, but it is quite certain that 
their own nature and that of their cattle needs the salt water of the sea, and 
that they have cooked their food mixed with this. Nature never rests at ease, 
but constantly catches at and seeks for that which its necessity and use 
require, and thus compels cattle, not to mention man, to lick salted things. 



Concerning Sali and Substances comprehended tinder Salt, 259 

For ourselves » custom and necessity alike prescribe that we eat salt in 
our food. Such an ordinance is natural and prudent. In this Avay three 
nutriments meet j that is to say, salt and food in one, and with these a third, 
nameljt drink; By these nature is nourished and sustained. 

I have said of salt that it is the natural balsam of the living body. 
That is, so long- as the body li%'es, so long the aforesaid salt is its balsam 
against putridity. By this balsam the whole body of man, as well as that of 
other creatures, is kept and conserved. Bui if there accrue to man any decay 
or — if I may so term it — any cadaverousness, as in the disease called Persian 
fire, the reaison is that. Now, if ever>*thing in creation is to be dissolved, it 
is clear that even the verj^ balsam itself contains the elements o^ dissolution, 
and when once this dissolution begins, its strength and power increase. If 
the balsam is dissolved or corrupted (and the various modes in which this may 
take place are given in my Theory of Medicine), then forthwith corruption and 
decay begin, according to the mode in which the salt has been corrupted. If 
the salt has not undergone corruption, then neither the external nor the 
internal body of man decays. Hence we must conclude that salt is like a 
balsam in man ; and that the natural salt which man eats is his food and 
aliment. I have discussed the subject of salt at some length, for the sake of 
securing fuller intelligence of the matter. Putting aside, therefore, the idea 
of a natural balsam, I would point out, moreover, concerning the salt in food, 
how it is an aliment, and with what gifts it is endowed by God, both for 
preserving the health of men and for warding off many diseases. But since 
nothing is so good as not to ha%'e some evil combined with it, it remains 
for us to recount the evil there is in salt» so that in this way the good and 
evil may be conjoined, and the one separated from the other. The nature and 
condition of salt are very remarkable. If salt can preserve the dead body or 
corpse, much more will it preserve the live flesh. If by its power and efficacy 
salt preserves the dead body from worms, much more the living body, and for 
this reason, that it is not only an aliment, but a necessary food and a medicine 
useful for old and young alike. Salt must be supplied to all. 

But there are three kinds of salt. There is sea salt, which is salt of itself, 
not salted by others. As %vine differs from water, so the sea in its nature 
differs from other waters. Other waters are sweet ; this is salt. Secondly, 
there are some springs which are sweet yet salt at the same time. These have 
a special nature, insomuch as they have that nature not in common with the 
sea, but of themselves contain a different kind of salt. Thirdly, there are also 
mineral salts, with the appearance of a stone, of a different kind from other 
metals or minerals. The best salt is from springs. Next comes that from 
minerals. The harder it is the better. Then there is sea salt. And as salt is 
divided into many kinds, so also is it sundered into many and various proper* 
ties distinct from one another. As to the way in w^hich salt Is prepared, there 
is no need to discuss that subject here, since it is clear enough. Neither is this 
the place to describe how it grows. That topic belongs rather to the Book on 

S2 



26o The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, 

the Generation of Minerals. My intention is to enlarge upon the virtues and 
vices of salt. In this case there is no need to speak of sea-salt. Whatever is 
written about white salt applies also to sea salt. Of rock salt not decocted again 
it is not treated here so much as of salt which has been so decocted. All salt, 
which is prepared either from water, or out of a saline and mineral » preserves 
the common order and virtue of salt ; for the strongest foundation is in liquid. 
Sea-salt and rock-salt do not become liquid. But salt which is decocted 
passes into a liquid before it is separated from the water into coagulated salt. 
The description of salt, then, is twofold. 0\\^ is that of salt from liquid ; the 
other of salt which is entire and definite. 

It should be known at the outset that this is the nature of every salt in 
its kind ; it is a corrective of foods. When salt is defective food is not 
corrected. For example * if the stomach takes food which has no salt, its 
decoction is languid, and its assimilation imperfect. From salt proceeds an 
expulsive force in the excrement and the urine. If these two functions do not 
proceed regularly, and the expulsions are not genuine, everj'thing is wasted. 
Moreover, if the food is not properly salted, it is certain that those liquids in 
man which take nothing unsalted cannot be fed. The blood becomes dis- 
organised. Where salt is not incorporated or united with the food it is 
not attracted by the blood. Whatever is sluggishly and faintly attracted 
occasions decay in the blood. Now, in order to avoid this, and for the sake 
of those particular members, foods should be salted, so that they may not be 
deprived of their due nutriment. Moreover, there is a solvent power in salt. 
If any obstructions of the pores or other accidents arise, salt takes away or 
removes these, so that they pass away in the urine. Urine is the salt of the 
blood ; that is, it is the salt of natural salt. Natural salt is united with 
nutrimental salt, and that conjunction causes the excrements to be expelled. 
If, however, salt is not supplied in due mode and sufficient quantity, a natural 
conjunction cannot be effected. Now, let every physician know that, since 
natural salt is wont to issue forth or be expelled by means of salt, the use of 
salt should be so much the more frequent. It is a great advantage if the salt 
called sal gemma* is used, as being much more available than all other salts 
for expelling the natural salt. It is peculiarly the duty of physicians, there* 
fore, not to neglect the three species of salt and the operations of each, but 
diligently to use them. 

I have said above that the description of salt is twofold, one as a liquid 
the other as a solid or dry substance. Concerning the liquid, note this fact, 
that all salt dries up every description of humour that proceeds from the body. 
Nevertheless, the liquid itself in one hour has more effect than the dried salt 
would have in a whole month ; so much more of a drj-^ing nature is there 
against superfluous humours than in dry salt, E\'en if dry salt be reduced it 
is not of equal excellence, as you will learn in its addition and correction. It is 
accordingly of great importance that the liquid of salt should be correctly 
described. If the liquid be prepared of such a consistency that it will bear up 



Concerning Salt and Sidstances comprehended under Salt. 261 

and sustain a vessel or an ii^gg when thrown into it, its virtue is as follows : 
whatever diseases are produced from humours, infesting the natural 
humours, these are purged when the liquid is exhibited. Of this class 
are moist gout, dropsy, humid tumours, and legs swollen by the influx of 
humours. To speak summarily, whatever leprous humour not existing 
naturally it touches, it consumes. It produces such effect in this way : 
the liquid itself is like a warm bath or hot springs* If it be so re- 
frigerated that the patient can sit in it, he should wash in it as is cus- 
tomary in hot springs, and the like. This, however, should be done on the 
advice of a prudent physician, as to how long and to what extent the treat- 
ment should be continued. Thus those humours are absorbed, the feet cease 
to swell and are reduced to their natural condition. A sound and firm nature 
consists in a dry body, not a fat, adipose, and humid one. A dry and muscular 
body is the best and healthiest. Whatever bodies are not so constituted, but 
are fat, humid, and flaccid, should all be washed in that bath ; thus they will 
be dried and become healthy. But if it happens that after a bath of such 
kind in progress of time the superfluous humours again invade the body after 
an interval, care should be taken that the patient spend his life and dwell near 
salt springs. A long life is better than a short one, and the pleasures of this 
world must not be considered. What diseases are of a kind to need this 
treatment 3'ou must learn from physicians. 

But now, turning to dry salt, it should be known at the beginning that 
there are several different kinds, as common table salt, clear salt, sal gemmae, 
rock salt, earth salt, and sal stiriatus. Whatever be the case with these, it 
should be known that any kind of salt put into water and used for washing 
wounds, preserves them from putrefaction and from w^orms, and so effect- 
ually removes any worms which may have been produced, that none are 
ever generated again. If wounds are kept pure and clean, they are 
healed by the operation of Nature herself, even if they are very severe, 
provided only they have not assumed a poisonous aspect, in which case, 
for the most part, not even a balsam does any good. So also in virulent 
ulcers salt is a singular remedy. Besides this, if salt be put into a bath, 
and a patient washes therein, he is freed from all sorts of scab. In this 
respect the liquid is more powerful, for it is a potent cure of scab and itch. 
And here, too, should be noticed the possibility of correction by which dry salt 
may be to a certain extent reduced to this form. 

Salt is useful in many other cases than we have so far recapitulated in 
external diseases of the body. So many virtues be hid in the use of salt. In 
conclusion, it should be remarked that in process of time the liquid removes 
and cures baldness and mange. 

Correction and Addition on the subject of a Second Time Correcting 

AND Reducing Dry Salt. 
The following is a recipe for correcting and reducing back again dry 
salt : Take common salt and the salt of urine in equal quantities. Let them 



262 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 

be calcined according to the rules of Alchemy for two hours. Afterwards let 
them be resolved in a cell in the usual manner. Thus you will have the reduced 
liquid. This is of such powerful virtue that in surgical cases it differs little 
from the true liquid of salt. For internal disarrangements of the body it is 
much slower in operation. In applying- and administering it you will observe 
the method first mentioned* It should be known, also, that no addition is ad- 
visablej since the virtues peculiar to salt are found in no other substance. 
The less salt there is in other things the fewer similar virtues can be found ; 
and therefore every accessory preparation is useless. If alkalis be decocted 
these are not a genus of salt, that is, they are not salt, but alkali. There is a 
difference between salt and alkali in that alkali is natural salt in bodies derived 
from the three species. But salt is nutrimentah feeding and nourishing even 
alkali. Therefore^ no addition can be made» or any other correction, save only 
that the salt should be kept by itself without any addition, as was said on the 
subject of calcination. The same is true concerning the water of salt, which 
is distilled into a spirit from the calcined substance. This spirit resolves gold 
into an oil. But if it be again extracted and carefully prepared, potable gold 
of the most excellent character will be the result. But if without such ex- 
traction the gold be resolved, then it is a most subtle object of art for gold- 
smiths in gilding, and a constant and priceless treasure to other artificers for 
the same purpose. But, nevertheless, they must be skilled in Alchemy for the 
work of preparation. 

Concerning clear salt, sal stiriatus, and the salt of gems, the fact is that these 
are most of all adapted to Alchemy, so that silver can be cemented in them 
after the common mode. In these salts, any Luna, that is, silver, becomes very 
malleable, and without the aid of fire is wrought almost as easily as lead is. 
It is also the best purifier of copper if it be reduced to a cement. 

Besides the conditions of salt already mentioned, one other property 
remains. It is this. In whatever place the urine of men or animals is deposited, 
there salt nitre is afterward produced. The urine being collected and prepared 
so as to form another salt, is called salt nitre. Now, salt nitre is salt formed 
from the natural corporeal salt and the salt of food. If these two are joined 
in man they expel from him what is superfluous by means of the urine, which 
is nothing else than natural, corporal, and nutrimental salt meeting with other 
humours. Now, if the urine be excreted into nitre, and stand for some time, 
then the spirit of salt meeting together in its^ operation, prepares one salt out 
of two, and that, indeed, of a peculiar kind. This the Alchemists afterwards 
extract from the nitre, clarify by alchemical art, and separate that which is not 
salt from the salt which has been produced. That they clarify again, and then 
the salt nitre manifests its conditions. In I he preparation, however, a separ- 
ation of the salt may be brought about, so that the true and genuine salt may 
again be extracted from a certain part^ and the rest mixed with the salt of the 
nitre* Now, the reason w^hy the genuine salt can be again extracted by decoc- 
tion is, that this salt is not digested in man or in the animal, but is passed out 



Concerning Sali and Substapices comprehended under Salt. 263 

in a crude state, so that it can be detected as such. But that which has been 
digested is mixed, and, as one may say, incorporated with the corporeal salt 
so that afterwards it cannot be separated, but passes into the form of salt 
nitre. No salt in the universe is like this one. Alchemy found it lying hid in 
nitre, reduced it to the form of a coag-ulated salt, and then evolved the latent 
virtue from it, only for purposes of Alchemy and the manual art. They tried 
to distil sulphur and salt nitre together, but this could not be accomplished on 
account of the violent chemical action produced. Having accomplished this 
afterwards by the addition of carbon, the Alchemists discovered gunpowder, 
and gradually so augmented this by new inventions that now it breaks 
through walls like a thunder-bolt. Hence it is with good reason called ter- 
restrial lightning. By means of this salt many of the arcana in Alchemy are 
brought about which need not be described here. We have not yet got at the 
true foundation or any good end. It is best, therefore, not to write on 
this subject at all, so that no one may be led astray. 

Butt so far as relates to the art of Vulcan, it cannot be denied that great 
secrets be hid there. This subject relates in no w^ay to the health of men, but 
purely to igneous preparations, which demand a chapter to themselves. The 
nature of man is indeed wonderful, since, from the body of man or brute, 
simply from its excrements, and by an internal motion, such a generation is 
contrived that when it proceeds from living beings it is so violent against life 
that nothing more destructive can be imagined. It destroys man's life with 
such swiftness that no defence is sufficiently strong against it. But these 
matters must be referred to metaphysical science in the Paramirum, 

In the beginning of this chapter I said that Nature had incorporated salt 
in the liquid of the earth. From this salt all growing things have proceeded, 
and it is the balsam of salt which I have mentioned. It should be known, too, 
that from this salt another salt is found also in the earth, and like salt nitre. 
For Nature having pores, cavities, and cataracts in the earth, deposits in them 
stalactites and long dependent grow^ths with the form and appearance of salt. 
If these are taken and prepared by the art of salt, they put forth two kinds of 
salt, table salt and salt nitre. It is called saltpetre, because it adheres to rocks, 
from which circumstance the name originates. Salt nitre and saltpetre, how- 
ever, are distinguished by a certain diflercnce. In the probation of salt the 
nature of each can be easily discriminated. A certain difference, too, can 
be observed in the species and powers of salt, so far as they relate to health 
and other matters. At the same time, I do not think It advisable that the salt 
which is formed from the salt nitre and saltpetre for food should be given 
man to eat, unless you wish to make him lean and dried up. Otherwise, it is 
very useful for gunpowder. It acquires another spirit, a different nature and 
condition. 

Now, one must speak of the losses and injuries of salt, for it is well to 
write of the evil as w ell as the good. Let this be understood concerning salt, 
that if it be not digested it is driven from the stomach through the intestines, 



264 The Hermetic and Alchemical Wriiings of Paracelsus. 

iLnd m ]t« transit causes so serere a colic and bowel coa:p!a:r.t that it can 
scarcely be cured even by the most cskrtfiil trcatssccr. It acquires such a 
strong corrosive force that it seems as thou^ it wished to ear away all the 
intestines. It has been often discovered b}' anaromy that a separated salt of 
this kind has produced perforation of the bowels. 

Besides this, if it remains in the stomach it causes cra\-ing, heat of 
stomach, and other ailments, all of which arise from crude salt adhering to 
the orifice of the stomach. In the case of these patients the physician must 
take great care to obser\'e whether that salt has proceeded from salted, 
ftmoked, or dried foods. Salt is not added in equal portions to every kind of 
food ; and this circumstance should be diligently considered b}- the physician. 

It also happens sometimes that this salt enters the mesenteric veins, and 
is there granulated and constipated, whence arise many unusual diseases, not 
only local but extending over the whole body. The same may also occur in 
those parts to which the urine penetrates on its passage to the emunctories. 
AH this we leave to be weighed by the prudent physician. 

Now, therefore, we will conclude as to the matter of salt in its kind. We 
thought it should be specially described, as it is a German growth. Many 
more things could be s^d of it here, but they are not all relevant, and many 
of them would be injurious, so that I have been unwilling to discuss them. 
What seemed to me useful I have done my best to impart as the result of my 
experience. 



APPENDIX III 



[The treatise which follows constitutes the seventh chapter De Natural 
ibus Rebus^ and may be compared with The Economy of Minerals^ c. 17. It 
is an addition of considerable importance to the Hermetic Chemistry of 
Paracelsus.] 



CONCERNING SULPHUR. 

GOD created the resin of the earth and endowed it with many unspeakable 
qualities, not only for remedying- diseases, but also for alchemical 
operations* Other virtues also are conspicuous in sulphur, which 
is a resin of the earth. It will be suitable, thenj not only to discuss the 
medical %*irtues of sulphur, but also to treat of its alche mistical and other uses. 
Much has been written and published on the subject of sulphur, but no one 
has ever yet reached the source of its true power. Many authors have 
undertaken to describe everj'thing, but they understood nothing. They piled 
up heaps of matter, but deduced nothing^ from the source as a good writer 
should do* They did not understand the subject themselves ; and thoug^h 
ambition led them to keep on compiling books, those books were without 
spirit or life, in fact, a mere dead letter. 

I, as an experienced man, will lay before you what 1 have learnt about 
sulphur, and what is comprised in it as regards medicine, alchemy, and in 
other respects. Unless God Himself interposes and hinders, the operations 
of sulphur are stupendous, so that ihe natural light in man cannot sufficiently 
admire them. If God does not hinder, any defect is in the artificers, who 
handle their sulphur so that the result does not correspond to its innate virtue. 
When every simpleton is made a doctor and everj' trifler poses as an 
alchemist, this fact accounts for science not being brought out into open light. 
And the foundation is that so many arcana and powers of both faculties are 
contained in sulphur, that they cannot be thoroughly in%'estigated by any — 
because, I repeat, such excellent virtues are latent therein, they are deservedly 
the subject of universal wonder. After long experience gained in both 
faculties, these powers of sulphur were discovered and understood by me, 
and I realised that scarcely any exist which are superior to them, or which 
can even be compared to them in medicine and in Alchemy, Sulphur confutes 
Aristotle when he says that the species of things cannot be transmuted. 



266 The Hermetic and Alckeniical Writings of Paracelsus, 

Sulphur transmutes them ; and if Aristotle were alive at the present day, he 
would be completely put to the blush and made ashamed of himself. 

One who practises as a physician or an alchemist does not use Sulphur as 
it exists per se^ but rather as it is separated into its arcanum, and so cleansed 
from its imparity that it becomes to its virtue whiter than snow. This is 
accomplished by Vsopus, that is» the art of separating^, which was anciently 
called the Ysopaic art in Alchemy and in all kinds of sequestration. Even 
when crude, it is remarkable for common use and for all external purposes. 
But, in order to be quite accurate in explaining Sulphur, I will differentiate 
it first according to its nature- It is not produced from one matrix^ but from 
many. Hence it has diverse modes of operation, and comprises many natures^ 
differing one from the other. These I will detail separately, so that no physician 
may make any mistake, and so that it may be clearly known what is its use in 
medicine, and also how far it is serviceable for Alchemy. When these points 
are established 1 will go on to specify its daily uses. So, then, when we shall 
have explained accurately and in due order its use in medicine, in Alchemy, 
and in other respects, all its operations will be understood by everybody, so 
that they will be able to handle it without danger of error. 



Concerning the Kinds of Sulphur. 

As often as you get new metal, so often you get sulphur ; because no 
metal is without sulphur. Every metallic body consists of three things, 
sulphur, salt, and mercury. In the perfection or generation of metals, how- 
ever, the superfluous sulphur is removed. Vou see a nut generated, not 
simply per se, but with a skin and a shell, and you know that these are super- 
fluous save for the embryonic conservation of the kernel, as is explained in the 
treatise concerning generation, 1 adduce this illustration to shew that there 
are as many kinds of sulphur as of metals, each bearing relation to the nature 
of its own metal. And this is true not only of metals, but of stones. There 
are as many kinds of sulphur as of stones. All bodies having their own sub- 
stance are made up of the three constituents just mentioned. On this account 
they have an embrjonated nature. Hence arise different names of sulphur, 
for example, the embrj^onlc sulphur of gold, silver, sapphire, marble, etc. 
The sulphur is distinguished by the name of the embr)*o, which arises from the 
generation of a single product, be it metal or stone. Nor do I speak of 
metals and stones only, but also of all the different corporalities, such as 
vit